Singer R. Kelly has been found guilty on all nine counts in his sex trafficking and racketeering trial in Brooklyn.
A jury of seven men and five women convicted Kelly this afternoon. Sentencing has been set for May 4.
He stood accused of being the leader of a group that recruited women and young girls for sex during his years touring the world as a top R&B singer. He was arrested by New York police and federal authorities in Chicago in 2019 and transferred to New York in June. His Brooklyn trial began August 21.
Some of the charges of sexual assault and bribery dated back 30 years.
The trial was his first time in front of a criminal court jury in 13 years. Kelly was acquitted of child pornography charges at a 2008 trial in Chicago.
But since then that his music has been boycotted, his conduct scrutinized by journalists and a spotlight on his activities was featured in a Lifetime documentary series, Surviving R. Kelly. Among the new accusations Kelly faced in the NYC trial were that an associate of the singer bribed a clerk in Cook County, IL, with $2,500 for information after the airing of the documentary in early 2019.
MORE TO COME…
Bruce Haring contributed to this report.