American singer and songwriter R. Kelly was on Wednesday sentenced to 30 years imprisonment for sexually abusing multiple women and underage girls.
The conviction represents a dramatic fall for the singer who hit stardom in the 90s.
Brooklyn Federal Judge Ann Donnelly handed down the sentence to R. Kelly
R, Kelly, 55, whose real name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, had faced up to life sentence.
He was convicted far back in September of nine racketeering counts for a decades-long sex abuse scheme targeting young female fans, some of whom were minors, as well as boys, according to Daily News.
Prosecutors had asked Donnelly to sentence him to 25 years. His lawyers sought a sentence of 10 years, writing that he was a victim of severe childhood sexual abuse.
The New York Post quoted woman as saying to Kelly: “You made me do things that broke my spirit. I literally wished I would die because of how low you made me feel.”
According to the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York in a memo to the judge, “Indeed, [Kelly’s] decades of crime appear to have been fueled by narcissism and a belief that his musical talent absolved him of any need to confirm his conduct – no matter how predatory, harmful, humiliating or abusive to others – to the structures of the law.”
More than 40 witnesses and 11 accusers took the stand during the nearly month-long trial.
The jury heard how Kelly beat girls and women with shoes, cords, or fists and delivered vicious spankings that left bruises when they broke his rules.
