In 2023, R. Kelly formally appealed his conviction on federal racketeering and sex trafficking charges. On Wednesday (February 12), the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld the conviction and its corresponding 30-year prison sentence. In a statement to The Associated Press, R. Kelly’s attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, called the ruling “unprecedented” and said that she believes the Supreme Court of the United States will agree to hear a further appeal.

This week’s decision has to do with Kelly’s New York federal case, but the disgraced R&B singer was also convicted, in a Chicago federal court, of producing child pornography and enticing girls for sex. The Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of his 20-year sentence in that case.