CHICAGO — Twice-convicted R&B singer R. Kelly’s first hearing in Cook County court after his Chicago federal trial left observers with little clarity about how the lingering county cases would proceed.
Thursday’s hearing was four minutes. Kelly, who is in federal custody awaiting sentencing, was not present. Attorneys got admonishments from Associate Judge Lawrence Flood that they should “start looking toward a resolution of these matters or trial.”
Assistant State’s Attorney Tene McCoy Cummings said in court that prosecutors were in the process of ordering and reading transcripts from Kelly’s Chicago federal trial, which concluded in mid-September. That review will help them file the appropriate motions in the county cases, she said.
Kelly’s attorney Steven Greenberg, meanwhile, told Flood he believes prosecutors should dismiss the cases altogether.
Flood said he would continue to have attorneys return to court each month for hearings, and if any substantive matters are scheduled, he will require Kelly’s appearance in court for them.
Greenberg months ago filed a formal request to throw out one of the County cases. That motion has yet to be argued. He said in court Thursday he intends to file a similar request on one of the other cases. Kelly’s next court date was set for mid-November.
Kelly was convicted in Chicago federal court last month on charges including child pornography related to his years of sexual abuse of his underage goddaughter and other girls. He was acquitted, however, of the explosive allegations that he rigged his initial Cook County trial in the 2000s. Sentencing in that case is scheduled for February.
Kelly already was sentenced to 30 years in a separate case, after a jury in New York found him guilty of racketeering conspiracy charges alleging his musical career doubled as a criminal enterprise aimed at satisfying his predatory sexual desires.
But the Cook County charges were filed before either federal case. In four separate indictments, county prosecutors allege Kelly sexually abused or assaulted four people, three of whom were underage girls at the time.
The federal charges soon overshadowed the county cases, which were largely put on hold.
Meanwhile, Kelly is fighting on at least three other fronts where prosecutors and civil attorneys are going after his money.
Last month, U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly in New York ruled that Kelly must pay one of the sexual abuse victims in his New York racketeering conviction, “Jane,” about $300,000 in restitution to cover herpes treatments and projected costs of her ongoing psychological therapy.
Donnelly ruled that another victim who testified against Kelly in that 2021 trial, “Stephanie,” should also be compensated by Kelly for her herpes treatment and psychological treatment, but the judge has yet to determine an amount.
The restitution to Jane and Stephanie will come on top of about $140,000 in fines and other assessments Kelly already owes in that case.
To help pay for it, Donnelly in August ordered nearly $30,000 in Kelly’s prison commissary account seized and placed in an interest-bearing account controlled by the U.S. District Court clerk. One of Kelly’s attorneys, Jennifer Bonjean, is appealing that order.
In his Chicago federal case, prosecutors will be seeking forfeiture of up to $1.5 million from Kelly when he is sentenced by U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber in February.
Following his conviction on child pornography charges last month, the Tribune reported that a $4 million default judgment had been entered against the singer in a lawsuit filed by a woman alleging Kelly had sexually abused her beginning when she was 16. Kelly is appealing the judge’s ruling in that case.
Just this week, the woman – who is also a victim at the center of one of the Cook County indictments – filed another lawsuit against Kelly, claiming he sold the rights to his compositions and lyrics to a childhood friend in an attempt to avoid paying the judgment. He also gave away his three Grammys as part of the scheme, the suit alleges.
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(Chicago Tribune’s Madeline Buckley contributed to this report.)
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