Updated as of 6/29/2022 at 3:27 p.m. ET
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R. Kelly’s fate in prison has been determined. The disgraced singer, who was found guilty of all nine charges including sex trafficking and racketeering back in September 2021 in federal court, has been sentenced to 30 years in prison, according to CNN.
U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly issued the sentence in Brooklyn federal court where seven of Kelly’s victims attended and confronted him.
One of Kelly’s victims said during the hearing, “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 New York Post.
Prosecuting attorneys in New York suggested that Kelly be sentenced to more than 25 years in prison, arguing that the public needs to be protected from further crimes in the future.
Kelly’s attorneys argued that the R&B singer should have been sentenced to no more than ten years and that anything more than 25 years is unnecessary and would be the same as giving him a life sentence.
More from CNN:
Kelly, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, wore a tan prison uniform, dark-rimmed glasses and a black mask at Wednesday’s hearing, which survivors in the case also attended. The court heard impact statements from seven of Kelly’s victims, including Jane Doe 2, who testified at trial.
“It’s been 23 years since we knew each other, and you’ve victimized a lot of girls since then,” she said, addressing Kelly. She later added: “Now it’s your turn to have your freedom taken from you.”
During Kelly’s criminal trial in September, the singer was convicted on one charge of racketeering and eight counts of violation of the Mann Act, a federal sex-trafficking law that criminalizes “the transportation of ‘any woman or girl for the purpose of prostitution or debauchery, or for any other immoral purpose.’”
Kelly’s attorneys made outlandish closing arguments in his defense including comparing him to Martin Luther King Jr., Hugh Hefner and Mike Pence.
The criminal trial saw witnesses speak about how they were sexually abused by Kelly and hear from people who were involved in organizing the marriage between the Chicago singer and Aaliyah in 1994 when she was 15 years old, according to CNN.
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