Prosecutors In Minnesota File Two New Charges Against R. Kelly – Tha Wire
Today in Tha Wire, getting an acquittal in 2008 on all counts in the infamous child pornography trial may have given R. Kelly a false sense of invincibility. For decades, the star has managed to escape scores of charges and sexual abuse allegations, but it looks like his luck has finally run out. Billboard reports that Phil Turner, a former assistant U.S. attorney in Chicago, pointed that out in a recent statement on Kelly's current charges. Turner said, “Federal charges are the major leagues. It’s a completely different ballgame for Kelly now.”
Despite pleading not guilty, federal prosecutors get convictions more than 90% of the time, so it's a slim chance that Kells will get off this go around. If anything, Turner believes the singer is going to be pressured to take a plea deal. Either way, Robert Sylvester Kelly is probably going to jail and it's just a matter of for how long. According to AllHipHop, the music star was just hit with two more charges for sex crimes he allegedly committed in Minnesota.
On Monday, August 6, 2019, Hennepin County Attorney, Mike Freeman, announced R. Kelly has been charged with engaging in prostitution with a girl under eighteen and hiring/ offering or agreeing to hire a woman for sexual contact. The new charges stem from July, 2011, when the singer allegedly paid $200 to have a teenage girl (believed to be sixteen or seventeen) strip and perform sex acts with him at his hotel.
Altogether, the 52-year-old disgraced entertainer is looking at a combined forty federal counts from sexual charges he's racked-up in Illinois, New York, and now Minnesota.
Kelly faces a maximum sentence of more than 500 years, meaning unless he gets some type of deal, he'll likely spend the rest of his life in prison if convicted. However, prosecutors say even if he lands the deal of the century, like ten to twenty years, he will be in his 70s or 80s before he sees the light of day again.
Gal Pissetzky, a Chicago trial lawyer who's represented multiple clients in plea deals, confirmed the singer's future is pretty grim. According to Pissetzky, if Kelly pleads guilty to one count, he could still be looking at the same amount of time he’d get if he went to trial.
“And you’re talking allegations of sex crimes and minors. I don’t think any judge will feel any mercy,” Pissetzky said. Long story short, the Chicago trial lawyer explained, “That amount of time, in your 50s, means you’re leaving prison in a box.
In that case, the attorney offered, “If the prison time you’re looking at is so high, you may as well go to trial.”