A Chicago prosecutor said Monday that she’s dropping sex-abuse charges against singer R. Kelly following federal convictions in two courts that should guarantee the disgraced R&B star will be locked up for decades.
The Cook County state’s attorney’s office had been waiting for its turn to bring Mr. Kelly, 56, to trial, which it could not do before the federal court cases in New York and Chicago were brought to a jury.
In 2021, Mr. Kelly was convicted on racketeering and sex trafficking charges, for which he was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Last year, he was convicted on sex crimes charges, including coercing minors into sexual activity and producing sex tapes involving a minor.
He is scheduled to be sentenced for that conviction next month, which could add decades to the total.
“Mr. Kelly is potentially looking at never walking out of prison again for the crimes he’s committed,We believe that justice has been served.”Kim Foxx, the Cook County state’s attorney, said at a news conference in which she announced plans to drop the charges.
Kelly, born Robert Sylvester Kelly, is serving a 30-year prison sentence in the New York case and awaits sentencing on Feb. 23 in Chicago federal court.
He is appealing those convictions. Based on the New York sentence alone, the 56-year-old won’t be eligible for release until he is around 80.
Others involved in the case had also been involved in Mr. Kelly’s federal trial, in which a jury convicted him on six of 13 charges.
The jury found the singer guilty of producing three videos of himself abusing his 14-year-old goddaughter, who took the stand last year after her direct testimony was not part of the 2008 case.
