R. Kelly's Federal Trial Is In The Hands Of The Jury
Editor's note: This report includes allegations of sexual and physical abuse.
It's been six weeks of hearing from alleged victims, former employees and expert witnesses. Now the jury decides what's next for R. Kelly.
Kelly — whose real name is Robert Sylvester Kelly — faces charges in a New York federal court of sexual exploitation of a child, bribery, kidnapping, forced labor, sexual trafficking across state lines and racketeering involving six victims. The racketeering charge positions him at the head of an enterprise that used his fame to lure people into becoming potential victims. Kelly, 54, has pleaded not guilty to all charges. If convicted, he faces a prison sentence of 10 years to life.
Kelly's defense lawyer, Deveraux Cannick, painted the alleged victims as liars and opportunists in his closing argument Thursday, and said that the government allowed the witnesses to lie under oath. He called one woman in particular a "super-stalker" of Kelly and a
