R. Kelly’s federal trial starting today

Singer R. Kelly, whose real name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, is facing multiple counts including racketeering with underlying charges that include the sexual exploitation of children, kidnapping, and sex trafficking women and girls.

He has pleaded not guilty to all charges. Kelly was previously on trial in 2008 for state child pornography charges in Illinois but was acquitted.

Opening arguments start Wednesday, and the trial is expected to last between six and eight weeks. Twelve anonymous jurors — seven men and five women — and six alternates were selected last week. They will be the only members of the public with an in-person view of the trial, after US District Judge Ann Donnelly ruled not to allow members of the public or media in the courtroom, due in part to Covid-19 restrictions.

Prosecutors are expected to make their case that for decades Kelly preyed upon women and girls who dreamed of meeting a superstar, and that his associates were part of a criminal enterprise that lured victims to the singer where some were sexually abused and, at times, filmed being abused.

It was a stunning fall from grace for the 54-year-old Grammy-winning entertainer who, after touring the world for decades, has spent the last two years in federal facilities in Illinois and New York awaiting trial since his arrest in July 2019. Kelly also faces federal child pornography and obstruction charges in the Northern District of Illinois, and faces state charges there for multiple counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse.

Now, facing decades in prison if convicted of the most serious charges, Kelly has spent the last few months shuffling his legal team and attempting to prepare for the trial of his life during a pandemic while struggling to do so because of his illiteracy, his lawyers say. The singer’s funds have been “depleted,” defense attorney Deveraux Cannick told the court at a hearing earlier this month.

“At this point, the public has only heard one side of the story in this case and that is about to change in the coming weeks. We look forward to the truth and the facts coming to light as the defense will continue to vigorously defend Mr. Kelly,” defense attorney Thomas Farinella said in a statement to CNN. “After all, the RICO ‘Enterprise’ is based on a series of independent relationships and events that the government is trying to patch together like different types of fabrics and trying to pass it off as silk.”

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