R. Kelly could die in prison if feds get requested 25-year sentence
Federal prosecutors asked an Illinois judge to sentence singer R. Kelly to 25 years behind bars on his Chicago conviction for child pornography and enticement — a term that could effectively lock him up for life.
The disgraced singer, 56, wouldn’t be eligible for release until he’s around 100 if the judge agrees to the prosecutors’ term — and another government request that Kelly start serving his Chicago sentence only after a 30-year New York sentence is completed.
In a sentencing recommendation filed late Thursday in US District Court in Chicago, prosecutors called the “I Believe I Can Fly” singer’s behavior “sadistic,” adding that he’s “a serial sexual predator” with no remorse who “poses a serious danger to society.”
“The only way to ensure Kelly does not re-offend is to impose a sentence that will keep him in prison for the rest of his life,” the 37-page government filing argues.
A sentencing memorandum from Kelly’s lawyer Jennifer Bonjean, filed Feb. 10, said even with the singer’s New York sentence, “Kelly would have to defy all statistical odds to make it out of prison alive.”
Bonjean asked the judge to give Kelly a sentence of around 10 years — the low end of the sentencing guidelines range — and that it be served simultaneously with the New York sentence.
She also suggested Kelly was actually the victim — blaming the underage victims as the pursuers.
Bonjean charged the black singer was singled out for behavior that white rock stars have allegedly gotten away with for decades.
“The federal government’s obsession with ensuring that Kelly dies in prison is particularly troubling where it seems to have no appetite for investigating or initiating prosecutions of numerous other famous (White) musicians with credible histories of sexually abusing underage women,” Bonjean wrote.
The list of stars she used as examples included Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, David Bowie, Ted Nugent, Steven Tyler, Mick Jagger and Marilyn Manson.
Kelly’s sentencing in Illinois is scheduled for Feb. 23.
