Federal prosecutors in the United States want singer R. Kelly locked up for more than 25 years following his conviction.

The New York Eastern District prosecutors, who won a conviction against the singer in September 2021 on all nine counts of racketeering, child exploitation and sex trafficking, based on the accusations of six women, recommended at least 25 years’ imprisonment for him.

“The government respectfully submits that a sentence in excess of 25 years is warranted,” they stated in court on Wednesday, June 8, stating that a fine between $50,000 and $250,000 be paid following his sentencing on June 29, 2022.

In a 31-page memo, the prosecutors cited the singer’s relationship with the late RnB princess Aliyah, saying he “began to sexually abuse her when she was just 12 or 13 years old.” Then, he went on to bribe an Illinois public officer to acquire a fake ID to marry her in 1994, when she was just 15, to hide his abuse over the years and avoid criminal charges, as one of the reasons for recommending the interminable number of years for his sentencing.

Other reasons prosecutors listed included child pornography recordings, the “physical and psychological” abuse of women; some of which were detailed in the “Surviving R. Kelly” documentary — things like Kelly making women call him “Daddy,” violent spankings if they disobeyed his rules, and prolonged isolation as punishment, having sex with women despite being diagnosed with genital herpes in 2004, without telling them.

Despite being arrested and going on trial in 2008, on child pornography charges, over graphic tapes, which allegedly showed Kelly having sex with his 14-year-old goddaughter (now identified as Minor 1, she is expected to be one of the key witnesses in testifying against Kelly in his Chicago trial), who at the time refused to testify against the singer and led to his acquittal, the singer still continued his heinous crimes, using his fame and stardom as a cover. 

R. Kelly, represented by Bill Cosby’s lawyer Jennifer Bonjean (who successfully represented Bill Cosby when he had his conviction overturned), now 55, held at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn, is also due for another trial in Chicago on August 1, on charges of child pornography and witness tampering.