The bad news just keeps coming for embattled R&B singer R. Kelly, who was just found guilty of three counts of child pornography and three counts of enticing a minor for sex on Wednesday, just months after he was sentenced to 30-years in prison in a separate case in New York earlier this summer.
Meanwhile, two other pending criminal trials loom large for the 55-year-old.
In his second conviction this year, Kelly faces a minimum of 10 years in prison for each of the child pornography charges, according to the Chicago Tribune.
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He was acquitted of seven other counts. The Chicago trial was a do-over of Kelly’s 2008 child pornography trial, with a key video critical to both.
Jurors Deliberated For Only 11 Hours Before Reaching Guilty Verdict, Co-Conspirators Acquitted
His two alleged co-conspirators, Derrell McDavid and Milton “June” Brown, were both acquitted on all charges after being accused of intimidating and paying off witnesses in Kelly’s 2008 trial for state child porn charges.
Jurors deliberated for only 11 hours before reaching a verdict, meeting on Tuesday afternoon and coming do a decision a day later, the outlet reports.
In the prosecution’s closing arguments, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeannice Appenteng said “R. Kelly wanted… to have sex with young girls,” before adding “the people around him wanted to help their boss… (and) get away with it.”
“What R. Kelly wanted was to have sex with young girls,” Appenteng said in the prosecution’s closing arguments, earlier this week. “And what the people around him wanted… they wanted to help their boss, including helping him get away with it.”
Kelly’s Defense Attorney: “He Should Not Be Stripped Of Every Bit Of His Humanity”
On Tuesday, Jennifer Bonjean, Kelly’s defense attorney, argued that “this man did some beautiful things with his music,” and told jurors “he should not be stripped of every bit of humanity.”
“This man did some beautiful things with his music. And he should not be stripped of every bit of humanity,” Bonjean said Tuesday. “I ask more importantly and to remember each count counts and take the time you need…Mr. Kelly deserves it no matter what you think of him.”
He was ultimately acquitted of trial fixing charges and was found not guilty on all three counts of conspiring to receive child pornography and for two further enticement charges.
Second Conviction In As Many Years, Two More Criminal Trials On The Horizon
Kelly’s most recent conviction is the second this year alone, after being sentenced to 30 years in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly In New York in June.
He has remained in prison after being convicted last September in New York of racketeering and sex trafficking crimes, The Shade Room previously reported.
And more legal trouble remains on the horizon for Kelly, with two further trials currently pending; one in Minnesota and another in state court in Chicago.
The singer will not be eligible for parole until he’s in his 80s, according to his charges.
