R. Kelly Found GUILTY of Racketeering in Federal Sex Crimes Trial

R. Kelly is headed to Federal prison. He was found guilty of racketeering in his federal sex crimes trial on Monday (09-27-21), according to a NY Times report.

Prosecutors accused the singer (real name: Robert Sylvester Kelly) of directing his employees to procure women for sex and sexually abused numerous women over the span of nearly 25 years.

In opening statements, Assistant US Attorney Maria Cruz Melendez, the lead prosecutor in the case, blasted him as a “predator” who “used his money, his clout, and his public persona to hide his crimes in plain sight.”

Over several weeks, prosecutors brought more than 40 witnesses to testify about Kelly. The witnesses included women and men who described how Kelly directed them to have sex with him and each other, and how the singer obsessively took videos of every sexual encounter.

The young women in Kelly’s orbit — many of whom were teenagers when they began sexual relationships with the pop star — said he controlled the minutiae of their lives, requiring them to seek his permission to use the bathroom and forbidding them from looking at other men.