How many years has R. Kelly left in prison? Supreme Court turns down singer’s latest appeal

The U.S. Supreme Court declined Robert Sylvester Kelly's, a.k.a. R. Kelly's, recent appeal, over his 2022 conviction related to federal s*x crime, on Monday, October 7, 2024. Per standard procedure, the court did not give any explanation for rejecting the appeal, first filed in July.

For the unversed, after decades of accusations of s*xual misconduct, federal prosecutors in New York and Illinois indicted the R&B singer, leading to his arrest in July 2019. In September 2021, a jury in New York convicted the Ignition artist of racketeering and s*x trafficking. He was sentenced to 30 years in June 2022.

The same year, R. Kelly was convicted on charges of child pornography and enticement, stemming from the Illinois indictment. In February 2023, a federal jury sentenced him to 20 years in prison. Per a February 2023 article by the BBC, R. Kelly would serve a majority of the two stints simultaneously (a total of 31 years). If served in full, he has 26 years left in his sentence.

---

R. Kelly's appeal dealing with his September 2021 conviction, remains pending

Following R. Kelly's trial, stemming from his Illinois indictment, he was found guilty on three counts each of child enticement and child pornography for producing videos of himself s*xually abusing three teenage girls, including his 14-year-old goddaughter. The jury acquitted the singer of the remaining seven charges, which include obstruction of justice and rigging his 2008 child pornography trial.

However, in their appeal, Robert's legal team argued that charges against him were filed after the statute of limitations expired. Per an October 2024 report by CBS News, his attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, explained that the indictment stemmed from crimes that occurred in the 1990s and early 2000s.

At the time, federal laws allowed prosecutors to file charges up until victims turned 25 years old. However, in 2003, Congress passed the PROTECT Act, which allowed the victims to file charges up until their deaths. Per the publication, Bonjean reasoned that Congress never meant for the law to apply retroactively, claiming prosecutors could not charge her client after 2009.

Per an October 2024 report by Vibe, quoting the attorney, wrote:

"Retroactive application of the 2003 amendment [does] not only fly in the face of congressional intent. It violates notions of fundamental fairness.”

Prosecutors argued that the law came into effect before the statute of limitations expired and was thus valid. However, a federal appeals court upheld the conviction. Per an April 2024 article by the AP News, the three-judge appeals court panel noted that during his trial, jurors acquitted him on 7 of the 13 counts against him despite "viewing those abhorrent tapes."

Additionally, Billboard quoting Judge Amy St. Eve wrote:

"For years, (R. Kelly) abused underage girls. By employing a complex scheme to keep victims quiet, he long evaded consequences. In recent years, though, those crimes caught up with him at last. But Kelly — interposing a statute-of-limitations defense — thinks he delayed the charges long enough to elude them entirely. The statute says otherwise, so we affirm his conviction."

This prompted the lawyers to file a petition asking the Supreme Court to take up his appeal, which was denied on Monday.

---

The R&B singer's second appeal dealing with his September 2021 conviction in New York remains pending.