R&B singer, R. Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Wednesday, following his conviction for recruiting and trapping teenagers and women for sex.
The sentence was imposed nine months after Kelly, 55, was convicted of racketeering and sex crimes.
Judge Ann Donnelly handed down the term in the Brooklyn federal court nearly a year after he was convicted by a New York jury.
“The verdict is in: R. Kelly has been sentenced to 30 years,” the US attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York said in a tweet.
The singer, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, is one of the most prominent people tried on sex charges during the #MeToo movement, which amplified accusations that had dogged him since the early 2000s.
According to Reuters, his alleged victims included the late singer Aaliyah, who Kelly briefly and illegally married in 1994 when she was 15. Aaliyah died in a 2001 plane crash.
Reuters further reports that several witnesses testified that Kelly instilled fear if his victims did not fulfill his every need, sexual and otherwise.
Many accusations against Kelly were reportedly included in the January 2019 Lifetime documentary “Surviving R. Kelly.”
One of the highlights of Kelly’s 30-year music career include the 1996 Grammy-winning smash “I Believe I Can Fly.”