NEW YORK — Disgraced R&B singer R. Kelly, who for decades preyed on his fans through psychological and sexual abuse, was sentenced Wednesday to 30 years in prison.
The 55-year-old multiplatinum-selling artist, whose real name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, had faced up to a life sentence. He was convicted last September of nine racketeering counts for a decadeslong sex abuse scheme targeting young female fans, some of whom were minors, as well as boys.
Prosecutors had asked federal Judge Ann Donnelly to sentence him to 25 years. His lawyers sought a sentence of 10 years, writing that he was a victim of severe childhood sexual abuse. In his sentencing submission, attorney Jennifer Bonjean wrote Kelly was “not an evil monster” but “a complex (unquestionably flawed) human-being” whose trauma shaped his adulthood.
