Prosecutors have asked a judge to give singer R. Kelly 25 more years in prison for his convictions made last year in a Chicago trial.
The 2022 trial convicted Kelly for three child pornography charges and three charges of enticing a minor.
If granted, the 56-year old would not be eligible for release until he was around 100, having only recently begun serving a 30-year sentence from a separate verdict made in New York in 2021.
A government request has asked that Kelly begin serving the sentence made in Chicago after he has fully served the 30-year New York sentence.
In their sentencing recommendation filed on Thursday in US District Court in Chicago, prosecutors described Kelly’s behavior as ‘sadistic’, calling him ‘a serial sexual predator’ with no remorse and who ‘poses a serious danger to society’.
“The only way to ensure Kelly does not reoffend is to impose a sentence that will keep him in prison for the rest of his life,”
the 37-page government filing says
The sentencing in Chicago is set for Thursday next week.
Kelly lawyer’s Jennifer Bonjean wrote in a filing last week that even with his existing 30-year New York sentence, ‘Kelly would have to defy all statistical odds to make it out of prison alive’.
She cited data that the average life expectancy of inmates is 64.
She recommended a sentence of around 10 years, at the low end of the sentencing guidelines range, and said it should be served simultaneously with the New York sentence.
In arguing for the lesser sentence, MsBonjean alleged Kelly, who is black, was singled out for behavior that white rock stars have got away with for decades.
‘None have been prosecuted and none will die in prison,’ she wrote.
Prosecutors acknowledged that a 25-year sentence in the Chicago case would be more time than even sentencing guidelines recommend. But they argued imposing a long sentence and instructing it be served only after the New York sentence was appropriate.
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