Source: Spencer Platt / Getty
I didn’t think too many people were surprised with the guilty verdict in the R. Kelly federal racketeering and sex trafficking charges after the fallout from Lifetime’s airing of ‘Surviving R. Kelly’ now it appears that Robert Kelly isn’t going to survive R. Kelly at least from a freedom stand point. The 7 week long trial that was media free seemed to present nothing positive for the pied piper of R&B happened not even from the presentation of his defense. At the end of the day Robert Sylvester Kelly was found guilty of racketeering and violating the Mann Act.
“Today’s guilty verdict forever brands R. Kelly as a predator who used his fame and fortune to prey on the young, the vulnerable and the voiceless for his own sexual gratification,” –Jacquelyn M. Kasulis, acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York
So what does all of this mean for R. Kelly?
Michael Leonard, an attorney for R&B singer R. Kelly sat down to discuss the verdict in an interview. Michael Leonard says (unlike most of us outsiders) he surprised by the verdict and hoped it would have gone differently. According to Michael Leonard citing the racketeering charges, the notion of criminal enterprises are usually reserved for drug lords and didn’t think it was a good fit for Kelly and his employees. Although he’s surprised, he says he respects the jury’s decision.
The 54 year old Grammy award winning R. Kelly still faces state and federal indictments in two other states on similar charges. He will be sentenced in Brooklyn federal court on May 4, 2022.
We think that if you took a poll most weren’t surprised with the verdict however most feel that some parents as well as his employees/friends should be facing the same fate as R. Kelly.
Take a listen to what Michael Leonard, R. Kelly’s attorney had to say about the trial as well as the verdict below.
Source: Radio One Digital
R. Kelly’s Attorney Michael Leonard Speaks [VIDEO] was originally published on wzakcleveland.com
