R. Kelly Trial Update: What Are The 9 Charges He Is Guilty Of?

A jury found American singer-songwriter R. Kelly guilty on nine charges of federal sex trafficking and racketeering in a landmark conclusion of the five-week trial Monday.

In one of the most high-profile trials in the #MeToo era, Kelly, 54, was found guilty of one count of racketeering, with 14 underlying acts that included sex trafficking, bribery, kidnapping and sexual exploitation of a child, CNN reported. The R&B crooner was also charged with eight additional counts of violations of the Mann Act, a sex trafficking law, for allegedly coercing and transporting victims across state lines.

Kelly, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, now faces 10 years to life in prison for physically and sexually abusing women and minors. His crimes reportedly stretch from 1994 up to December 2018.

Racketeering is a charge often associated with organized crime. However, prosecutors argued that the charge applies to Kelly and his "inner circle," including his bodyguards and assistants, who worked to recruit girls and young women for sexual exploitation to produce pornographic materials for his sexual gratification across multiple states, according to The New York Times.

During the trial, Kelly was also accused of using “lies, manipulation, threats and physical abuse” on his victims. He was also accused of grooming girls and filming their sexual encounters.

“Today’s guilty verdict forever brands R. Kelly as a predator who used his fame and fortune to prey on the young, the vulnerable and the voiceless for his own gratification,” Jacquelyn M. Kasulis, the acting U.S. attorney in Brooklyn, told a crowd of reporters outside the courthouse following the verdict. "To the victims in this case, your voices were heard and justice was finally served.

The jury, made up of seven men and five women, began deliberating the verdict on Sept. 24. The verdict comes more than a decade after the “I Believe I Can Fly” singer was acquitted of child pornography charges at an Illinois state trial in 2008.

The high-profile trial began on Aug. 18, 2021, lasting five weeks and involving 5 witnesses for the defense and 45 witnesses for the prosecution, including “Jane Does.” The witnesses ranged from Kelly’s former live-in girlfriends and ex-employees.

One of the Jane Does was late-American signer Aaliyah, who died in a plane crash in the Bahamas in 2001. Aaliyah was married to Kelly in August 1994 because he believed her to be pregnant. The marriage occurred when he was 27 and she was 15 and was done to avoid prosecution, according to The New York Times.

Jurors also heard from a witness who only identified herself as Stephanie. She accused Kelly of sexually abusing her in his studio when she was 17. The witness, now 39, also accused Kelly of controlling her, asking her to call the singer “Daddy” and forbidding her from speaking with other men when she was with him, according to The Guardian.

Kelly is scheduled to attend his sentencing on May 4, 2022.