R. Kelly will learn his fate after a judge ruled that he will be sentenced for his latest conviction in Chicago.
According to a report Billboard published on Thursday, February 16, the embattled R&B singer's previous conviction of child pornography charges will stand after a federal judge denied a motion to overturn the ruling. Judge Harry D. Leinenweber declared that federal prosecutors gave jurors “enough evidence to sustain a guilty verdict on all six counts Kelly was convicted of.” Kelly’s attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, previously requested a new trial after she accused a woman who testified during the trial of lying in an attempt to seek $13 million in restitution from Kelly.
“Jane’s testimony was not truthful when she claimed she was ‘undecided’ about whether she would seek restitution from the Defendant," Bonjean said according to The Chicago Sun-Times. She knew full well she was seeking restitution in an extraordinary amount if Defendant was convicted. The government knew it too.”
During the four-week trial, a woman who only identified as "Jane" testified that she was only 14 when Kelly videotaped their sex activities in the early 1990s. As a 37-year-old adult, the woman admitted that she was the girl in the infamous sex tape that leaked to the press. During Kelly's first trial in 2008, "Jane" refused to testify which led the jury to acquit the singer due to inconclusive evidence regarding the girl's age. At the trial held last year, the woman explained that she was ashamed and tried to protect Kelly when she declined to testify 14 years ago.
“Simply because Jane and her attorney considered the possibility of restitution, does not mean she lied during her testimony,” the judge wrote.
R. Kelly is set to be sentenced next week. He could face up to 90 years in prison just for those crimes. He was previously sentenced to 30 years in prison for his conviction in New York. He also has one more trial to deal with in Minnesota.