R. Kelly gets one additional year in prison for Chicago conviction

CHICAGO (CBS) -- A judge sentenced disgraced singer and Chicago native R. Kelly on Thursday to one additional year in prison for his Chicago conviction federal child pornography and child enticement charges, on top of the 30 years he's already serving for a separate conviction out of New York.

U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber sentenced Kelly to a total of 20 years in prison, but ordered only one year of that sentence would be served after he completes his sentence on racketeering and sex trafficking charges in federal court in New York. The remaining 19 years in the Chicago case will be served at the same time as his New York sentence.

Kelly, 56, could be eligible for release from prison when he's a little over 79 years old.

Leinenweber said, while "the nature of this offense is horrible, horrific," he also noted Kelly already is likely to die in prison, given his age and his health.

"No matter what I do, Mr. Kelly isn't going out the door after today. He's not going out the door in the next 10 years. He's not going out the door in the next 20 years," Leinenweber said. "He has a life expectancy of not a hell of a lot more; 8, 10 years."

Citing "the absolute depravity" of Kelly's crimes, prosecutors had sought to add 25 years to his prior sentence.

"The defendant inflicted deep, deep wounds on three women," Assistant United States Attorney Jeannice Appenteng said. "To this day, he refuses to show any shame, any remorse."

But defense attorney Jennifer Bonjean argued that Kelly does regret his crimes, and wanted to speak in his own defense at sentencing, but opted not to on the advice of his attorneys.

"This idea that he has failed to accept responsibility. The government knows this is not true," Bonjean said.

Kelly's sentencing hearing began with victim impact statements from the three women Kelly was abused of enticing into sex when they were girls.

Jane, who had testified during trial that Kelly sexually abused her hundreds of times starting when she was 14 years old, shortly after becoming her godfather, provided a written statement read in court by her attorney, in which she said "Robert shattered me."

"All I can do is cry. I have lost my dignity due to Robert Kelly. I have lost my dreams due to Robert Kelly. I have lost my teenage years due to Robert Kelly," Jane said. "I almost lost my entire family due to suicidal thoughts caused by Robert Kelly."

Jane said she's still humiliated that people have seen videos of her being sexually abused by Kelly, after sex tapes he recorded were leaked decades ago. Some of those tapes were played in court at Kelly's trial in Chicago.

"I thought Robert loved me. To do the things he did, he in fact loathed me," she said. "I will forever be the girl that R. Kelly pissed on."

Jane's former best friend, Pauline, also had testified at trial that Kelly abused her dozens of times when she was a girl, including threesomes with Kelly and Jane. She said Kelly's abuse destroyed her friendship with Jane.

"Robert pitted us against each other," she said. "I have lost so much due to this." 

A third accuser, Nia, said Kelly should spend the rest of his life in prison because of what he did to her and other girls.

Nia said she "felt giddy" when she met Kelly as a skinny and anxious 15-year-old girl, who was often teased for her appearance, thinking "Wow, R. Kelly thinks I'm special."

But after repeatedly having sex with her when she was a girl, she said he lost interest when she went from a skinny teenager to a curvy woman as she got older.

"You were only interested in children," Nia said. "You made me feel there was something wrong with me."

In September 2022, a federal jury in Chicago convicted Kelly of six counts accusing him of sexually abusing Jane, Pauline, and Nia on video, while acquitting him of enticement charges involving two other accusers, Tracy and Brittany.

The same jury acquitted him of seven other charges, including obstruction of justice, accusing him and two associates of rigging his 2008 child pornography trial in Cook County.

Jane had accused Kelly of sexually abusing her hundreds of times after becoming her godfather when she was only 14 years old. Prosecutors showed the jury three videos that they said showed Kelly having sex with Jane, including one that showed him telling her to lay on the floor while he urinated on her.

Jane had denied for years that Kelly abused her, but now says Kelly intimidated her and her family, and paid them off to keep his abuse secret. She now says she was the person in the video at the center of Kelly's 2008 child pornography trial in Cook County, and has told the jury Kelly recorded her on other videos shown in court.

Nia had testified she first met Kelly in 1996, when she was only 15 years old, and that they had two sexual encounters, one at a hotel during his concert tour in Minnesota, and another later that year at his music studio in Chicago.

Pauline testified that Jane introduced her to Kelly when she was only 14 years old, and the three soon started having threesomes, before Pauline started her own sexual relationship with Kelly alone when she was 15. She estimated she had sex with Kelly more than 80 times and had 60 threesomes with Kelly and Jane between the ages of 14 and 16.

On top of his prison sentence, Leinenweber ordered Kelly to pay $42,000 in restitution to Pauline as part of his sentence, after she testified about mental health treatment she is still seeking. But the judge denied restitution claims from Nia and Jane, noting they already reached settlements with Kelly in civil lawsuits.

Kelly's attorneys have said they plan to appeal his Chicago conviction, and has already begun the process of appealing his New York conviction.

Kelly still faces a solicitation of prostitution charge in Minnesota, although that case has stalled as his federal cases took precedence.

Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx last month decided to drop sexual abuse and sexual assault indictments against Kelly, noting he was already facing decades in prison, saying her office's limited resources would be better spent pursuing other sexual assault cases.

Continue reading below for more details on the sentencing hearing, and reaction to the judge's decision