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Did R Kelly's Lawyer Appeal Supreme Court To Overturn His Conviction For 20-Year Prison Sentence? Here's What Report Reveals
Accordign to reports, R. Kelly's attorneys filed an appeal with the court challenging his conviction for federal crimes, claiming the statute of limitations should be applied to overturn the verdict.
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R. Kelly is appealing his federal sex crimes convictions to the Supreme Court
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The 57-year-old singer was sentenced in Chicago to 20 years in prison in February 2023
Trigger Warning: This article contains references to sexual abuse.
R Kelly's legal team is requesting the US Supreme Court to overturn his convictions for his crimes of having child pornography and encouraging minor girls to have sex in the mid to late 1990s.
The 57-year-old musician, whose actual name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, was found guilty in Chicago in February 2023 and given a 20-year prison term for enticing kids for sex and producing child pornography.
R Kelly's attorney filed an appeal to get his 20-year prison sentence overturned
In a petition acquired by PEOPLE on Thursday, July 25, his attorney Jennifer Bonjean stated that Kelly's alleged conduct happened decades before and that the charges from the previous year are allegedly forbidden by the statute of limitations.
Prosecutors refuted that claim, pointing to the PROTECT ACT, a 2003 law that stated the statute of limitations for crimes involving sexual assault against minors is indefinite.
In her petition, Bonnejean argues that even though Kelly is serving time for crimes from the 1990s, he is exempt from the statute of limitations due to the PROTECT ACT, which was put into effect in the early aughts.
Kelly serving two prison terms concurrently
Kelly was found guilty in June 2022 of racketeering and sex trafficking and was sentenced to 30 years in another New York case that is still pending. However, 19 years of the two terms are to be served consecutively. Robert Sylvester Kelly is expected to be freed from prison in 2045. The federal appeals court that dismissed Kelly's claim and ordered his appeal to the Supreme Court stated that timing is critical.
The court only accepts a small portion of the thousands of appeals it receives each year, and it takes four justices to approve and review a petition. Kelly's petition is facing a deadline of August 28 for the Justice Department to respond in writing before the court decides whether or not to hear his case.
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