R.Kelly came to the plate, took a mighty swing, and barely connected. The R&B singer-turned-prisoner just suffered a significant setback in his long-shot quest to get his 2021 convictions overturned, which include sex trafficking and racketeering. A federal appeals court answered almost all of his legal arguments with a firm “no,” but not before throwing him one small bone.
A Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruling upheld most of the original verdict. That includes nine counts, from racketeering to numerous violations of the Mann Act, a federal law that makes it illegal to transport a person across state lines for an unlawful sex act. The prosecution had more than enough evidence to show that R. Kelly used his musical fame and authority to manipulate, control, and sexually exploit underage girls and young women over more than two decades.
In simpler terms, the court said what has been apparent to many for years was that R. Kelly operated a predatory enterprise disguised as a celebrity. This appeal was among Kelly’s last significant legal efforts to alter the trajectory of his fate. But by all indications, the court wasn’t buying what his lawyers were selling. Almost all the claims they presented in the appeal were denied.
But among the legal rubble of his unsuccessful appeal came a minuscule, surprising victory: the court said it would throw out one part of his sentence, dealing with how much he was ordered to pay in herpes medication to one of his victims. It’s a minor point in the big picture, but to R. Kelly and his lawyers, it’s a technical victory that may not alter the weight of his prison sentence, which has now totaled decades.
That small financial concession over a herpes prescription is not exactly redemption in action. “It’s like someone drowning in the ocean is thrown a bottle cap to float on.
For the victims, their advocates, and anyone who has paid attention to the disturbing story since the beginning, justice of the slow and often grinding variety has come to where it should. The court consistently acknowledged the insidious pattern of exploitation that Kelly maintained, driven by money, fear, and a network of enablers.
Suppose R. Kelly caught a technical break in the shape of a reduced restitution bill during his court appearance. In that case, the reality is also unchanged: His legacy now and forever is rewritten, not as a chart-topping artist, but as a convicted predator whose time in prison is far from done. So yes, while he may have slipped on the herpes tab, in every way that counts, R. Kelly’s appeal hit a wall, and it hit hard.
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