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I believe he can cry.
R. Kelly was found guilty Monday of sexually abusing multiple women, boys and girls for decades. This is the superstar's stunning fall from grace, as a jury of seven men and five women deliberated for about nine hours over two days before reaching their unanimous verdict on racketeering charges.
The trial lasted about a month in the federal courthouse in Downtown Brooklyn, just a stone's throw from the Brooklyn Bridge.
From the beginning of the month-long trial, prosecutors depicted Kelly, 54, as a “predator” who used his fame and a cadre of employees to prey on young victims. Others paint him as a POS [google it].
“This case is not about a celebrity who likes to party a lot,” Assistant US Attorney Maria Cruz Melendez said in her opening statement last month. “This case is about a predator.”
Prosecutors were able to prove the racketeering charges by showing the jury how Kelly used a network of his friends and people who worked for him in his "inner circle" to transport his targets across state lines, control their actions, and facilitate the sexual abuse.
Prosecutors from the Eastern District of New York then called a bunch of witnesses who testified about the abuse the singer of "I Believe I Can Fly," subjected them to.
From the beginning of the month-long trial, prosecutors depicted Kelly, 54, as a “predator” who used his fame and a cadre of employees to prey on young victims. Others paint him as a POS [google it].
“This case is not about a celebrity who likes to party a lot,” Assistant US Attorney Maria Cruz Melendez said in her opening statement last month. “This case is about a predator.”
Prosecutors were able to prove the racketeering charges by showing the jury how Kelly used a network of his friends and people who worked for him in his "inner circle" to transport his targets across state lines, control their actions, and facilitate the sexual abuse.
Prosecutors from the Eastern District of New York then called a bunch of witnesses who testified about the abuse the singer of "I Believe I Can Fly," subjected them to.
His wings have been clipped.
The first witness to take the stand was Jerhonda Pace, who said Kelly repeatedly had sex with her over the course of several months after they had exchanged numbers at a party at Kelly's Chicago mansion when she was under 18 years old.
The first witness to take the stand was Jerhonda Pace, who said Kelly repeatedly had sex with her over the course of several months after they had exchanged numbers at a party at Kelly's Chicago mansion when she was under 18 years old.
In their last encounter, Kelly became pissed off at Pace because she was texting on her phone and paid him no attention when he walked into the room, she explained.
Kelly smacked her in the face and forced her to perform oral sex on him after berating her, she said in court.
During her testimony, she read from a journal, at times pausing to wipe away tears.
“I went to Rob’s house and he called me a bitch,” she read aloud. “He said I was a silly bitch. He slapped me three times and said if I lied to him again it’s not going to be an open hand next time.
“He spit in my face and mouth,” she said. “He choked me during an argument. I had sex with him. I had oral sex with him. I went home and confessed.”
Kelly smacked her in the face and forced her to perform oral sex on him after berating her, she said in court.
During her testimony, she read from a journal, at times pausing to wipe away tears.
“I went to Rob’s house and he called me a bitch,” she read aloud. “He said I was a silly bitch. He slapped me three times and said if I lied to him again it’s not going to be an open hand next time.
“He spit in my face and mouth,” she said. “He choked me during an argument. I had sex with him. I had oral sex with him. I went home and confessed.”
Other than that, he was a perfect gentleman.
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Kelly’s attorneys tried to cast Pace — and his other accusers — as hysterical fans who were obsessed with Kelly and concocted stories about him because he refused their advances.
One of his victims was R&B singer Aaliyah, who Kelly illegally wed in a Chicago hotel room in 1994, when she was 15 years old. Kelly had to rely on his entourage in order for the nuptials to move forward.
A former tour manager for the disgraced singer testified in August that he bribed a Chicago-area welfare office employee to make a fake ID for Aaliyah, which listed her age as 18. Kelly was 27 years old at the time. Prosecutors alleged Kelly married Aaliyah in order to dodge criminal charges for having sex with a minor and to block her from testifying against him about abuse. Unfortunately, Aaliyah died in a plane crash when she was 22.
A former tour manager for the disgraced singer testified in August that he bribed a Chicago-area welfare office employee to make a fake ID for Aaliyah, which listed her age as 18. Kelly was 27 years old at the time. Prosecutors alleged Kelly married Aaliyah in order to dodge criminal charges for having sex with a minor and to block her from testifying against him about abuse. Unfortunately, Aaliyah died in a plane crash when she was 22.
A witness at trial, a former backup dancer known as "Angela," testified that she witnessed Kelly performing oral sex on Aaliyah when she was 13 or 14 years old on a tour bus they were traveling on.
The defense called on several witnesses whose careers were closely tied to Kelly as they tried to cast him as less of a scumbag as he apparently is.
One defense witness, music consultant Julius Darrington, testified that he did not see Kelly abuse women while working with him in his Chicago studio and when they traveled across country for shows.
He said on cross-examination that he had no knowledge of what Kelly did when he wasn't with him, so his testimony was as useful as ice skates on a beaver.
Kelly did not take the stand in his own defense, meaning he had a good lawyer. But the singer faces more criminal charges outside of New York as he was also charged by state prosecutors in Minnesota with engaging in prostitution with a minor and by federal prosecutors in Illinois for child pornography and obstruction.
I believe he wishes he can fly.
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