R. Kelly convicted of six counts in federal trial in Chicago; co-defendants acquitted
Disgraced singer R. Kelly on Wednesday was convicted of multiple child pornography charges accusing him of sexually abusing his 14-year-old goddaughter on video nearly 20 years ago, but jurors acquitted him of charges he conspired with two associates to cover up the tapes and to obstruct justice in his 2008 child pornography trial in Cook County.
Kelly, 55, was found guilty of three child pornography counts, and three counts of enticing minors for sex, but acquitted of seven other charges, including obstruction of justice, and conspiracy to receive child pornography. Each of the child pornography counts carries a sentence of up to 20 years, and the enticement charges each carry a sentence of up to 10 years.
Co-defendants Derrell McDavid and Milton "June" Brown were acquitted of all charges.
Jurors deliberated for about 11 hours over two days before delivering their verdict.
Kelly was convicted of three of four counts accusing him of producing child pornography by filming himself having sex with his underage goddaughter, who testified against him under the pseudonym "Jane." Jurors saw parts of those three videos in court. Jurors acquitted him of a fourth child pornography charge involving a tape that Jane and prosecutors said showed Kelly having a threesome with Jane and his ex-girlfriend, Lisa Van Allen, but that tape was not shown in court. Prosecutors had argued that's because Kelly and his team successfully covered it up.
Jurors acquitted Kelly and McDavid, his former business manager, of a conspiracy to obstruct justice charge that accused them of rigging his 2008 child pornography trial in Cook County by covering up incriminating sex tapes, and intimidating and paying off Jane and her parents to keep his abuse of her secret.
Kelly, McDavid, and Brown also were acquitted of a conspiracy to receive child pornography charge accusing them of trying to retrieve and cover up three sex tapes involving Jane. Kelly and McDavid also were acquitted of two charges of receiving child pornography, involving further claims they tried to retrieve and cover up other videos involving Jane. The government's case on those charges rested in large part on testimony from Charles Freeman and Lisa Van Allen, who defense attorneys described as liars out to extort Kelly for money.
Finally, Kelly was convicted of three of five charges accusing him of enticing minors to engage in sexual activity, but acquitted of two other charges. Jurors convicted him of enticement charges involving Jane, and two other accusers testifying under the pseudonyms "Nia" and "Pauline," while acquitting him of enticement charges involving accusers "Tracy" and "Brittany."
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.
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.
Tracy testified that she met Kelly in 1999 when she was an off-the-books intern for an Epic Records executive, and claimed that, when she was only 16, Kelly "forced himself" on her at a downtown Chicago hotel. She said the two later developed a sexual relationship that continued beyond her 17th birthday. But defense attorneys cast doubts on her claims, pointing to a past lawsuit she filed against Kelly in which she claimed they met and started having sex in 2000, when she was 17 years old.
Brittany did not testify at trial, and while both Jane and Pauline testified to having threesomes with Kelly and Brittany when they were just girls, defense attorneys seized on the fact Brittany didn't testify herself, asking jurors in closing arguments "Where is Brittany!"
Before the jury began its deliberations, Kelly's lead defense attorney asked jurors to set aside what they knew about the singer before the trial, acknowledging most of it probably wasn't favorable, and to treat him as a "John Doe." Bonjean said the jury must make their decision based only on the evidence they heard in the courtroom, not what they might know about Kelly through the media, or what they've heard about him elsewhere.
Bonjean said no matter what jurors might decide, Kelly did some beautiful things when it came to making music, and he shouldn't "be stripped of every bit of humanity he has."
However, in the prosecution's rebuttal argument, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeannice Appenteng said the evidence was clear that Kelly sexually abused girls, and his co-defendants helped him cover it up.
"What R. Kelly wanted was to have sex with young girls," Appenteng said.
Appenteng said when the jury reflects on the case, they should consider who is at the center of it: Kelly's victims. She said they were children when Kelly began sexual relationships with them, and the jury should find him guilty.
"The defendants are guilty of each count in the indictment. Hold them accountable," Appenteng said.
Jurors heard four weeks of testimony from more than 30 witnesses, and saw clips from three sex tapes that prosecutors say show Kelly sexually abusing his 14-year-old goddaughter.
During the trial, four women accused Kelly of sexually abusing them when they were girls, including the state's star witness, who testified under the pseudonym "Jane," and told jurors that Kelly began abusing her after becoming her godfather when she was only 14, and had sex with her hundreds of times between the ages of 14 and 18.
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.
McDavid was the only defendant to testify at the trial, spending three days on the witness stand repeatedly telling jurors that he believed Kelly when he denied sexually abusing girls in the early 2000s, but said he began to have doubts about Kelly's innocence after learning new things during the ongoing federal trial.
Kelly already has been sentenced to 30 years in prison after he was convicted last year of racketeering and sex trafficking charges in federal court in New York.
Kelly also is still awaiting trial in Cook County in sexual assault and sexual abuse cases involving four women, three of whom were girls at the time of the abuse. He also faces charges of soliciting a minor for prostitution in Minnesota.
Read more about the response to Wednesday's verdict below.
U.S. Attorney's office to recommend consecutive sentence
The U.S. Attorney's office said they will recommend a consecutive sentence to the 30-year sentence R. Kelly received in New York – adding prison time for Kelly.
There was no word late Wednesday on when the sentencing will take place.
Attorney David Fish: R. Kelly likely won't see light of day out of prison again
Attorney David Fish represented R. Kelly accuser Jerhonda Pace – who appeared in the "Surviving R. Kelly" documentary. Fish was also subpoenaed in Kelly's 2021 trial in Brooklyn.
Fish joined CBS 2's Joe Donlon and Irika Sargent on our CBS News Chicago stream Wednesday night to discuss the verdict Wednesday – and the allegations against Kelly that go back decades.
"I'm glad that R. Kelly will most likely be spending the rest of his life – or nearly the rest of his life in prison," Fish said. "You know, it's a very sad day, though, in Chicago, in that we know that we allowed this to go on for 20 years – so many victims and so many young girls that were impacted by him."
Fish also called it disappointing that what he deemed Kelly's "enablers" were not convicted, but said prosecutors had a tough case against them.
Fish said Kelly was able to escape accountability for his acts in large part due to nondisclosure agreements – which he said were likewise used by other high-profile men who have been convicted of sex crimes such as Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby, and Jeffrey Epstein.
"They have victim after victim after victim, and then they pay them some money and make them sign agreements that they're not going to tell anybody," Fish said. "What that allows is it allows for more women to be victimized, because people don't know about what's going on."
Fish said his client, Pace, had had a relationship with Kelly when she was 16 that quickly turned into physical, sexual, and emotional abuse.
"As she grew up, she realized this was wrong, and the same thing that happened to her happened to a lot of other girls that were approximately the same age," Fish said.
Fish said he thinks it unlikely that Kelly will ever see the light of day outside a prison again. Still, there are more cases against him – including one in Cook County Criminal Court and one in Minnesota. Fish said the trials can be an important part of the healing process for victims.
Breakdown of the verdict
Here is a breakdown of the verdict:
R. Kelly
Count 1: production of child pornography, video involving Jane (10-20 years) GUILTY
Count 2: production of child pornography, video involving Jane (10-20 years) GUILTY
Count 3: production of child pornography, video involving Jane (10-20 years) GUILTY
Count 4: production of child pornography, video involving Jane (10-20 years) NOT GUILTY
Count 5: conspiracy to obstruct justice, conspiring to cover up incriminating tapes ahead of 2008 trial (up to 5 years) NOT GUILTY
Count 6: conspiracy to receive child pornography, three videos involving Jane (5-20 years) NOT GUILTY
Count 7: receiving child pornography, two videos involving Jane (5-20 years) NOT GUiLTY
Count 8: receiving child pornography, one video involving Jane (5-20 years) NOT GUILTY
Count 9: coercing minor (Jane) to engage in sexual activity (up to 10 years) GUILTY
Count 10: coercing minor (Nia) to engage in sexual activity (up to 10 years) GUILTY
Count 11: coercing minor (Tracy) to engage in sexual activity (up to 10 years) NOT GUILTY
Count 12: coercing minor (Pauline) to engage in sexual activity (up to 10 years) GUILTY
Count 13: coercing minor (Brittany) to engage in sexual activity (up to 10 years) NOT GUILTY
Derrel McDavid NOT GUILTY
Count 5: conspiracy to obstruct justice, conspiring to cover up incriminating tapes ahead of 2008 trial (up to 5 years)
Count 6: conspiracy to receive child pornography, three videos involving Jane (5-20 years)
Count 7: receiving child pornography, two videos involving Jane (5-20 years)
Count 8: receiving child pornography, one video involving Jane (5-20 years)
Milton "June" Brown NOT GUILTY
Count 6: conspiracy to receive child pornography, three videos involving Jane (5-20 years)
Trial attorney Tamara Walker says Kelly's defense team should consider plea deal in pending Cook County cases
Trial attorney Tamara Walker, who has been closely following the case, said "The jury saw very clearly that the government presented a compelling case on the six counts which concern the coercing minors to sex with the three minors, as well as the taping and filming of those acts."
However, Walker said the jury also clearly determined the prosecution didn't make its case that Kelly and his co-defendants conspired to fix his 2008 child pornography trial, at which he was acquitted.
With Kelly now facing his second conviction on federal charges in the past two years, Walker said the singer's defense team should evaluate whether or not to make plea deals on other sex crime cases in Cook County and Minnesota.
"At what point do you start to look at prosecutors, and start to make a deal? You already have a 30-year sentence, and the fact that he already has a conviction can definitely be used in sentencing on this case. So you have to start to evaluate those cases, and determine whether or not it's worth it to continue with pleas of not guilty, or look to a plea deal where perhaps time can be reduced, or you're not piling on if there's convictions in these other cases," she said.
Nonetheless, Walker said she expects Kelly's defense attorneys will file the necessary post-trial motions to challenge the verdict and preserve his rights to appeal his latest conviction.
Kelly already has filed notice that he will be appealing his racketeering and sex trafficking conviction from his federal case in New York, for which he was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
U.S. attorney calls R. Kelly conduct "reprehensible"'
U.S. Attorney John Lausch praised the jury's verdict, saying that R. Kelly is finally "being held accountable for [his] reprehensible conduct."
"Mr. Kelly engaged is sex acts with multiple girls under the age of 18, and he recorded some of those sex acts on video," Lausch said.
"We are pleased with the fact that Robert Kelly is being held accountable for that reprehensible conduct. We are particularly pleased that Robert Kelly is finally, finally being held accountable for the abuse of his 14-year-old god daughter."
That was the victim, identified as Jane is this trial, at the center of the 2008 case in which Kelly was acquitted. Jane took the stand in this case, but did not testify in the first trial.
At sentencing, Kelly is facing anywhere from 10 to 90 years of imprisonment for all the counts. The sentence could be considered separate from the case in New York in which Kelly was convicted and sentenced to 30 years. Prosecutors will argue for that, but it will be at the judge's discretion, Lausch said.
Lausch thanked the victims in this case, "the people who survived Robert Kelly and his years of abuse."
"Their courage to come into this courtroom and to stand before the jury and to reveal the unspeakable things that that man did to them. It's remarkable."
As for the not guilty verdicts, especially for Kelly's two co defendants who were acquitted, Lausch said the charges were justified but that he respected the jury's verdict.
R. Kelly's reaction as the verdict was read
CBS 2 Investigator Megan Hickey was in the courtroom when U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber announced the jury had reached a verdict. McDavid and Brown were already sitting down when Kelly walked in and gave McDavid a firm handshake.
They sat down, and after that, it was so tense that one could hear a pin drop in the room.
At 4:15 p.m., the jury entered and the forewoman handed the verdict to a U.S. Marshal, who handed it to the judge. The judge then read the verdict.
It was hard to tell what was going on in Kelly's mind for as the judge read the first couple of counts, as he was wearing a mask and had on thick glasses. But once the not guilty verdicts came in, he was nodding his head as Bonjean tapped him on the back and rubbed him on the shoulders.
After the verdict against McDavid was issued, McDavid stood up, yelled, threw his arms in the air, and grabbed the attorney that was next to him. This of course is not the appropriate way to act in a federal courtroom, so they all quickly sat down after getting a little bit of a look from the judge.
After Brown was also acquitted, he gave an audible, "Yeah!" as Kelly nodded his head in approval.
After the judge thanked the jurors for their service and went through a couple of administrative things, Kelly hugged McDavid and Brown as they were leaving the courtroom.
Jim DeRogatis: 'This man is a monster'
Former Chicago Sun-Times rock critic Jim DeRogatis was the reporter who first brought attention to sexual misconduct claims against Kelly back in December 2000. DeRogatis was subsequently sent two sex tapes purporting to show Kelly – which were handed over to authorities.
Speaking to CBS 2's Jim Williams and Marie Saavedra Wednesday afternoon, DeRogatis took Kelly's attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, to task for claiming the criminal cases against Kelly came about as a result of the documentary "Surviving R. Kelly."
"She neglected to mention 22 years of diligent investigative reporting by the Chicago Sun-Times," DeRogatis said.
DeRogatis noted that the jury saw 17 clips from three videos of a young woman who said Kelly was abusing her starting at the age of 14 – and went on doing so hundreds of times in subsequent years when she was still underage.
"What is her life like today? I have never spoken to her," DeRogatis said. "But I've spoken to 68 women whose lives were ruined by this monster."
DeRogatis also noted that Bonjean had asked everyone to consider that Kelly is a human being.
"Yes, he was a musical genius. Yes, he had a tough upbringing, and he was abused. But no one in the history of popular music has ever been convicted of charges this wide; this broad – going back to 1991," DeRogatis said. "The man's a monster, and it breaks my heart to say that."
Kelly went on trial for child pornography charges in Cook County Criminal Court in 2008 over the tape authorities said showed Kelly and the then-14-year-old girl. Kelly was acquitted in that case. Given that, Williams asked DeRogatis if he thought criminal convictions would ever come for Kelly – as they now have in federal court in Brooklyn and Chicago.
"My faith in the judicial system, for the travesty of justice that happened in Judge Vincent Gaughan's courtroom, it couldn't be lower," DeRogatis said. "And I think the feds presented a very sloppy case here, because there was conflicting testimony. There were dubious witnesses. Did they not read the Chicago Sun-Times' 22 years archive? I can't believe it. You know, that's not a docuseries. That's reporting that stands. Not a single correction, clarification, retraction – much less a lawsuit – in 22 years of the most horrible documenting of just heartbreaking crimes."
DeRogatis has made the point repeatedly over the past 22 years about what R. Kelly's crimes say about the treatment of Black women.
"And I hear from them, and you know, their reaction is always, 'I'm glad justice was finally served. I don't get that time back from when I was 14, 15, 16. It's too little, too late,'" he said.
R. Kelly attorney uses mixed verdict to criticize prosecutors
While R. Kelly was convicted of six counts in his child pornography trial, his attorney used the mixed verdict to blast government attorneys for putting on a case that was "overcharged."
"They charged counts that they couldn't win," said attorney Jennifer Bonjean.
Kelly was found guilty of three child pornography counts, and three counts of enticing minors for sex, but acquitted of seven other charges, including obstruction of justice, and conspiracy to receive child pornography.
She praised the jury for their careful deliberations.
"They did their job and looked at each count separately," said Bonjean. "Obviously we are not celebrating a win, but are happy the jury looked at each count."
Bonjean said Kelly was "used to bad news," referencing his 30-year sentence is a separate sex trafficking case in New York. He did say that he had a sense of relief that this case was in the past, Bonjean said.
She told reporters that her team was considering an appeal but would not get into details of that strategy.
"He's still got many fights to fight," she said.
Attorney for Derrel McDavid accuses prosecution witnesses of lying
Following the verdict, Beau Brindley, attorney for Derrel McDavid, said his client had been vindicated.
"Twelve people acknowledged that which was always true – the work done by Derrel McDavid, and R. Kelly's lawyers – Edward Genson and Gerry Margolis – was great work. They did a great job. They did the right thing, and this jury has exonerated Derrel McDavid, and has exonerated those men right along with him," Brindley said.
Genson and Margolis have both died. Brindley emphasized that they, and McDavid, had a responsibility to defend R. Kelly when allegations of a sex tape involving a minor surfaced in 2002, and in Kelly's subsequent criminal trial focusing on the tape in 2008.
Brindley also accused two prosecution witnesses – Lisa Van Allen and Charles Freeman – of lying on the stand. Freeman claimed Kelly's team agreed to pay him to recover a sex tape, while Van Allen testified Kelly offered to pay her $250,000 to return a tape showing the two of them having sex with his underage goddaughter.
"We are grateful for these jurors to be able to see that when a lie is told on the witness stand, it will not be accepted," Brindley said.
McDavid himself thanked his attorneys for standing "tirelessly" beside him for years. He noted that his own son got out of law school and worked on the case until 3:30 a.m. every morning to exonerate his father.