R Kelly, 54, faces 100 years in prison after he is found GUILTY of all nine counts

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R. Kelly was found guilty of all nine counts of racketeering and sex trafficking by a federal jury on Monday during his sex trafficking trial where prosecutors accused the R&B singer of exploiting his stardom over a quarter-century to lure women and underage girls into his orbit for sex.

A jury of seven men and five women reached the verdict after nine hours of deliberation and a six-week long trial featuring lurid testimony. 

He faces up to 100 years in prison – 20 years for racketeering, 10 for each of the sex trafficking convictions. Sentencing is expected to take place on May 4, 2022. Kelly has remained in custody after being denied bail in his New York City case in October 2019.

The jury began deliberating federal racketeering and sex trafficking charges against the superstar on Friday in Brooklyn, after prosecutors and defense attorneys finished their closing arguments.

Prosecutors say Robert Sylvester Kelly, 54, ran a Chicago-based criminal enterprise for nearly three decades and that he used to ‘target, groom and exploit girls, boys and women’ for unwanted sex and mental torment.

The witnesses said Kelly subjected them to perverse and sadistic whims when they were underage. He has denied any wrongdoing.

The acts presented during disturbing testimony included bribery, kidnapping, forced labor rape, druggings, imprisonment and child pornography. Some key allegations from the trial include:

• Assaulting underage victims and knowingly giving them herpes
• Coercing victims into getting abortions after impregnating them
• Slapping, choking, spitting at and urinating on his victims
• Recording sexual encounters with his underage accusers, creating child porn
• Subjecting his victims to cruel punishments – such as beatings or locking them in rooms without access to food, water or a bathroom – when they disobeyed his rules
• Forcing his victims to write letters denying allegations of abuse against him
• Threatening his accusers and their families if they attempted to leave him or press charges
• His illegal marriage to singer Aaliyah, which involved obtaining a fake ID for the then-15-year-old so the nuptials could be performed.

‘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 Kasulis, the interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York who prosecuted the case, said.

Adding that Kelly is ‘a predator who used his inner circle to ensnare underage girls, and young men and women, for decades in a sordid web of sex abuse, exploitation and humiliation.’

Gloria Allred, who represented three of Kelly’s accusers, echoed Kasulis’ comments.

‘I have been practicing law for 47 years. During this time I have pursued many sexual predators who have committed crimes against women and children. Of all the predators I have pursued, Mr. Kelly is the worst,’ she said outside the courthouse.

‘He used the power of his celebrity to recruit vulnerable underage girls for the purpose of sexually abusing them.’

Kelly’s lawyer Deveraux Cannick said he was disappointed by the verdict.

‘I think I’m even more disappointed the government brought the case in the first place given all the inconsistencies,’ Cannick said.

‘I don’t think anybody is ever prepared for an outcome like this.’

Jurors began the day on Monday by sending the judge a note asking for transcripts of testimony by two former Kelly employees and for a legal clarification.

The court also permitted the media – for the first time – to hear audio played for the jury.

In one clip, according to reporter Jason Meisner, Kelly is heard hitting a victim because she was suspected of stealing.

‘Keep your eyes closed. Eyes open? Guess what — we start over,’ Kelly was heard saying, followed by sounds of slapping and crying.

After the assault, the victim was heard crying as she repeats: ‘I’m a stupid b***h daddy, I want you to fix me.’

Kelly allegedly told her that he loved her, supported her and encouraged her to keep repeating the aforementioned words.

‘Without a frown, without an attitude you do what the f*** I say,’ he adds.

Another clip, reportedly from the same encounter, also provided insight to how he treated his victims in the bedroom.

Among splashing and moaning sounds, the victim was heard saying: ‘Ooh there is p*** everywhere’.

‘That wasn’t role play and that wasn’t consensual. You saw it with your own eyes,’ prosecutor Nadia Shihata told the courtroom on Monday.

‘And by the way, Anna testified about that. And the other video with the bodily fluids, she testified about that too…And she said it was humiliating.’

The guilty verdict follows 21 days of evidence including 50 witnesses and hours of searing testimony.

The charges were based on an argument that the entourage of managers and aides who helped the singer meet girls – and keep them obedient and quiet – amounted to a criminal enterprise.

To convict Kelly on racketeering, which carries a sentence of up to 20 years, jurors had to find him guilty of at least two of 14 ‘predicate acts’ — the crimes elemental to the wider pattern of illegal wrongdoing. 

He was also charged with multiple violations of the Mann Act, which makes it illegal to transport anyone across state lines ‘for any immoral purpose.’

Throughout the trial, prosecutors argued that Kelly’s accusers were ‘indoctrinated’ into his world, groomed for sex and kept in line by ‘coercive means of control’ including isolation and cruel disciplinarily measures.

They argued that Kelly, with the help of members of his entourage, used tactics from ‘the predator playbook’ to sexually exploit his victims.