R. Kelly Loses Appeal to Overturn NY Sex Trafficking Conviction

A federal appeals court has officially denied R. Kelly‘s attempt to overturn his 2021 sex trafficking and racketeering conviction in New York, meaning the disgraced R&B star will remain behind bars for the foreseeable future.

Kelly, 58, argued through his attorneys that he did not run a racketeering enterprise because his employees weren’t aware of his victims’ ages and therefore lacked criminal intent. However, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was not convinced. In an 85-page decision, the three-judge panel upheld the guilty verdict, reinforcing the 30-year prison sentence he received in June 2022.

“The record is replete with evidence that Kelly was able to commit the predicate acts because he was the head of a close-knit group of associates and he controlled the affairs of the enterprise,” Judge Denny Chin wrote in the ruling. The decision pointed to multiple instances where Kelly’s inner circle actively helped facilitate his crimes, including arranging his illegal marriage to a then-15-year-old Aaliyah in 1994.

A Brooklyn jury convicted Kelly in September 2021 on one racketeering count and eight counts of violating the Mann Act, a federal law prohibiting the transportation of individuals across state lines for illegal sexual activity. The trial included damning testimony from 40 witnesses, including 11 accusers, detailing years of abuse, manipulation, and control.

Kelly also tried to argue that some jurors in his case were biased against him due to the extensive media coverage of his crimes. He specifically pointed to two jurors who had seen the Surviving R. Kelly documentary before the trial. However, the appeals panel ruled that the trial judge properly vetted the jury and ensured they could remain impartial.

One judge, Richard Sullivan, dissented on a minor point, agreeing that Kelly’s conviction should stand but questioning the financial restitution awarded to one of his victims, known as “Jane.” Jane was granted compensation for a lifetime supply of Valtrex to treat herpes, which Kelly knowingly transmitted to her. Sullivan argued that she should only be reimbursed for the generic version of the medication rather than the more expensive brand name, which had been estimated to cost $270,000 over a lifetime.

Despite the legal defeat, Kelly’s attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, signaled that the fight is not over. She criticized the ruling, calling it an “unprecedented opinion” that misuses the RICO statute, which was originally designed to prosecute organized crime.

“While we are disappointed that the Second Circuit affirmed Mr. Kelly’s convictions, we believe the United States Supreme Court will be interested in reviewing this,” Bonjean said.

However, the Supreme Court has already rejected one of Kelly’s appeals. In October, the high court declined to hear his case related to his Chicago conviction, where he was sentenced to 20 years for child sex crimes. Since his September 2022 conviction in that case, Kelly has lost every appeal.