When Will R. Kelly Be Eligible for Parole?

Grammy-winning R&B singer R. Kelly has been in the headlines for his legal issues since the 1990s. However, in 2019, he was arrested and charged with multiple counts of sexual abuse, including child pornography, racketeering, and obstruction of justice. The singer was found guilty after two separate trials, and he is currently serving a lengthy prison sentence. But when will R. Kelly be eligible for parole? 

Why did R. Kelly go to prison?

Kelly’s legal issues began in 1994 when he married singer Aaliyah, who was only 15 years old at the time. The marriage was eventually annulled. 

In 2002, a video surfaced that appeared to show Kelly engaging in sexual acts with a 14-year-old girl. The video was later used as evidence in his trial. But in 2008, after a six-year legal battle, Kelly was acquitted of 14 counts of child pornography.

In 2019, Lifetime premiered Surviving R. Kelly, a six-part docuseries that featured testimony from the singer’s victims and their families. The series fueled further investigations into Kelly’s crimes and alleged sex cult. And later that year, he was arrested again on charges of sexual abuse and child pornography. 

Kelly was accused of abusing several women and girls, including one who was only 13 years old at the time. In September 2021, he was found guilty of racketeering, eight violations of the Mann Act, four counts of coercion, and one count of trafficking a minor in a New York Federal Court. In September 2022, a Chicago court found Kelly guilty of three child pornography and three child enticement charges. 

When will R. Kelly be eligible for parole?

For his New York convictions, Kelly was sentenced to serve 30 years in prison. When the sentence was handed down, he was 54 years old.

In February 2023, a Chicago court handed Kelly a 20-year sentence for his child pornography and child enticement charges. According to CNN, US District Judge Harry D. Leinenweber stated that “19 years of the 20-year prison sentence would be served concurrently, or at the same time as his other sentence.” 

This means that the now 56-year-old will serve an additional year after his 30-year sentence is complete. And with the ruling, Kelly may not be eligible for parole until he is 80. 

In addition to his sentence, Kelly will also have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. He will also likely be subject to a lifetime of supervised release, meaning he will be monitored closely by a probation officer and will have to comply with strict conditions.

R. Kelly isn’t the only major celebrity to face a lengthy prison sentence 

Kelly is not the only celebrity to face lengthy prison time. Some other stars who received substantial prison sentences for similar crimes include Bill Cosby and Harvey Weinstein.

Cosby, a comedian known for his ’80s sitcom The Cosby Show, was sentenced to up to 10 years in prison in 2018 for sexual assault. Cosby was released in June 2021 after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned his conviction.

Weinstein, a former film producer and head of Miramax Films, was sentenced to 23 years in prison in 2020 for rape and sexual assault. He is currently serving his sentence at Wende Correctional Facility in New York. The accusations against him helped lead to the rise of the #MeToo Movement.