On Monday, Sept. 27, singer R. Kelly, known for a number of hit songs like "I Believe I Can Fly," was convicted of sex trafficking after a six-week trial in New York, in which dozens of people testified against him. 

 

In the federal case led by the Eastern District of New York, Kelly faced a total of nine charges: one count of racketeering, with 14 underlying acts including charges of sexual exploitation of a minor, kidnapping, bribery and sex trafficking and also faced eight additional counts of violations of the Mann Act, a sex trafficking law.

 

After nine consecutive hours of deliberation, a jury of seven men and five women found Kelly guilty of racketeering. The defendant stood motionless, his eyes lowered as the verdict was read in a federal courtroom in Brooklyn.

 

Kelly's attorney, Deveraux Cannick, said he was disappointed by the verdict.

 

"I think I'm even more disappointed that the government brought the case in the first place given all the inconsistencies," Cannick told the New York Times.

 

Several of the allegations given during the trial were detailed and alleged that Kelly subjected them to perverse and sadistic whims when they were minors.

 

Gloria Allred, a lawyer for some of Kelly's accusers, said that of all the predators she has pursued, a list that includes Harvey Weinstein and Jeffrey Epstein, "Mr. Kelly is the worst."

 

"R. Kelly thought he could get away with all of this, but he didn't,"  Allred said outside the courthouse. "Even though he thought he could control all of this, he was wrong."

 

R. Kelly will be sentenced on May 4.