R. Kelly Sex Trafficking & Racketeering Trial Date Set
Disgraced R&B legend R. Kelly has been in jail in Chicago since July of 2019 facing a long list of charges in several different states to answer for in the coming years but he will get his first day in court and chance to defend himself beginning next year.
According to Billboard, a judge has ordered that Kelly's sex trafficking and racketeering trial will begin in Brooklyn in early April 2021. Jury selection will begin in mid-March and the actual trial date is slated to begin on April 7th.
The report goes on to state that Kelly is facing charges in New York of racketeering, coercion of a minor, transportation of a minor and coercion to engage in illegal sexual activity relating to six different victims.
The indictment alleges that for over two decades, R. Kelly was the leader of a racketeering enterprise made up of managers, bodyguards, drivers, personal assistants and runners who recruited women and girls to engage in illegal sexual activity with the singer. The sexual activity was often filmed and photographed by Kelly, according to the court filing by the Department of Justice.
He is also awaiting trial in Illinois regarding separate sexual abuse allegations and is currently being held in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago.
Kelly continues to maintain his innocence and his attorney Michael I. Leonard says that his client is looking forward to having his day in court.