A Chicago federal appeals court upheld a 20-year sentence for disgraced singer R. Kelly on child pornography and other charges.
A federal jury convicted the singer in 2022 of three counts of producing child pornography and three counts of enticing minors into criminal sexual activity. Kelly’s team believed the sentence was too harsh.
His legal team also argued that Illinois’ old statute of limitations – that required prosecution of child sex crime charges within 10 years – should have applied and that one accuser should have been tried separately due to video evidence that was at the center of the Chicago trial.
The appeals court did not agree.
Kelly’s attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, was disappointed with the outcomes and said they intend to seek a US Supreme Court review of the decision and “pursue all of his appellate remedies until we free R Kelly.”
“We are disappointed in the ruling, but our fight is far from over,” she said.
