R. Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison Wednesday after being convicted of racketeering and sex trafficking.

U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly imposed the sentence on Kelly and ordered him to pay a $100,000 fine after a nearly three-hour hearing. Kelly did not address the court.

The victims held hands while the sentence was read and Kelly had no apparent reaction.

“Although sex was certainly a weapon that you used, this is not a case about sex. It’s a case about violence, cruelty and control,” Judge Donnelly told him during the sentencing.

Kelly’s lawyer Jennifer Bonjean said they look forward to the appeal.

“30 years is like life for him,” she said. She also emphasized he is “not a predator.”

U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace called the sentence a “significant outcome” for Kelly’s victims.

Kelly “preyed upon children and young women..for decades,” according to Peace. He would “force victims, including minors” to be in “porno films” which the singer “produced and directed.”

“The sentence shows that the witnesses reclaim control ovee their lives,” he added. “This is a victory for them. It doesnt matter how powerful..justice only hears the truth”

Seven of Kelly’s victims gave impact statements during the sentencing hearing.

“You made me do things that broke my spirit. I literally wished I would die because of how low you made me feel,” one woman told the Grammy-winning, multiplatinum-selling singer. “Do you remember that?”

Another woman, sobbing and sniffling as she spoke, said Kelly’s conviction restored her faith in the legal system.

“I once lost hope,” she said, addressing the court and prosecutors, “but you restored my faith.”

The woman said Kelly victimized her after she went to a concert when she was 17.

“I was afraid, naive and didn’t know to handle the situation,” she said, so she didn’t speak up at the time.

“Silence,” she said, “is a very lonely place.”

The “I Believe I Can Fly” singer was convicted on one count of racketeering. The racketeering including 14 underlying acts of sexual exploitation of a child, kidnapping, bribery, and sex trafficking charges.

R. Kelly was also convicted on eight violations of the Mann Act. The legislation makes it illegal to transport people across state lines for “immoral purposes.”

The trial lasted six weeks.

Prosecutors had argued that Kelly should receive at least 25 years in prison for his conviction.

Kelly used his “fame, money and popularity” to systematically “prey upon children and young women for his own sexual gratification,” prosecutors wrote in the filing.

“He continued his crimes and avoided punishment for them for almost 30 years and must now be held to account,” prosecutors wrote.

Kelly’s lawyers had argued he should get no more than 10 years in prison because he had a traumatic childhood “involving severe, prolonged childhood sexual abuse, poverty, and violence.”

As an adult with “literacy deficiencies,” the star was “repeatedly defrauded and financially abused, often by the people he paid to protect him,” his lawyers said.

Article Source: https://www.foxnews.com/

Residents in Farmington Hills, Michigan are demanding answers from its local police department after a Boy Scouts troop that was touring the police department’s building discovered that the targets in the shooting range were all images of Black men.

Residents expressed their concerns about targets at a city council meeting on Monday. 

“I wanted to express my outrage when I found out that actual images of Black men were used for target practice,” said a woman speaking at the podium.

“I’m a proud Army Desert Storm veteran, and I can tell you at no point during my training for that task was there ever images of anyone,” said a man speaking at the podium.

The Farming Hills Police Department denied the claims and insisted it used images of both Black and white people for target practice. 

“I have never been trained to shoot at any particular race, gender, age, or anything of this nature,” said Farmington Hills Police Officer Kevin Clark. “The reason various targets are used is to work through what everyone has. It’s an implicit bias.”

A resident at the meeting says pictures from a parent who was on the tour with the Boy Scouts troop shows differently.

“What I see here is basically, these are actually Black men in hoodies and they’re holding guns. And they are actually images of Black men. They’re not black, gray, or white,” the resident said as she showed the pictures.

Farmington Hills Councilman Micheal Bridges questioned why the targets were used instead of silhouettes, especially when twenty percent of the Farmington Hills population is Black.

“Silhouette would have been most appropriate; I don’t see a good reason to use those targets, I don’t really at all,” Bridges said.

In response, Farmington Hills Police Chief Jeff King said the targets are used to train officers to “make a split-second decision to make a life saving or non threat situation.”

He also reiterated the department uses various targets of all colors and genders.

King says an internal review shows the department uses 11 white targets and two Black targets, “consistent with the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards (MCOLES) and the City’s demographics.”

Dionne Webster-Cox, a lawyer hired by the family of a child on the trip, says a Freedom of Information Act response shows the department possesses those images, but there’s no evidence it uses them.

“They ordered this target – they had lots of groups, Caucasians, it was very diverse,” Cox said. “Now how is it that you ordered these, but the only ones you are actually using is the Black men?”

Cox said she doesn’t plan to file a lawsuit but she wants to bring awareness to prevent racial profiling.

At the city council meeting, King said he wanted to be open and transparent with the community.

“I’ll take this one on the chin,” King said. “I apologize to each and every person in this room.”

“I assure you that we don’t want to hide anything from you,” said Farmington Hills Mayor Vicki Barnett. “You are more a part of this community than you know.”

Barnett said the images have been removed and an investigation is underway.

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – A 51-year-old man from Cocoa, Florida has been arrested after police say he held a woman captive in his home for nearly a week, repeatedly raping and beating her after he learned she had slept with a Black man.

Charles Tanner was taken into custody and charged with multiple felonies, including sexual battery, aggravated battery, false imprisonment, and aggravated assault, according to court documents.  

Authorities say Tanner and the alleged victim knew each other for about five years. On June 3, she went to Tanner’s home because he offered to give her heroin and she was in withdrawal. 

The woman, referred to as “A.H.” in the affidavit, said the two initially engaged in consensual sex, but Tanner became enraged when he found out she had been sleeping with a Black man, records show. 

“‘This enraged the defendant when he learned that the male she had a relationship with was of African American descent. The defendant then kicked A.H. in the head,” the affidavit says. “Over the next several days the defendant would beat A.H. with a closed fist and berate her about being unfaithful during [redacted] with a ‘N****r.’ The defendant would then smoke methamphetamine, become enraged and then forcefully have sex with A.H. against her will or make her perform oral sex on him to the point of her vomiting into a bucket in the room. A.H. recalled the defendant stating that he like the fact she was vomiting and seemed to be aroused by her condition.”

Over the next five days, the victim said tanner held her against her will, smoked methamphetamine, beat and raped her “at least 10 times”, with the abuse becoming more and more sadistic and humiliating. 

The victim told investigators that Tanner held a knife to her cheek and threatened to slash her face and kill her, beat her with an extension cord, and held a pillow over her face until she lost consciousness. On the fifth night, she said Tanner fell asleep on top of her but she was able to wriggle free and run to a neighbor’s home. 

Deputies from the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office responded to a 911 call from a home in the area, saying an unknown naked woman just woke them up pounding on their door seeking help. 

The residents told investigators that the woman had “noticeable bruising all over her body and stated that she was raped and held against her will” by Tanner, the paperwork says. The victim also allegedly claimed that she had been “starved for five days” and requested food and water.

“Once deputies arrived they spoke with A.H. and noted she was still unclothed and covered in bruises. A.H. reported to deputies that she was held at 321 Pineda Street for the last 5 days by her [redacted] Mr. Charles Tanner, hereinafter referred to as ‘the defendant,’” the affidavit states. “A.H. reported to deputies that while she was being held captive by the defendant, he repeatedly strangled her, beat her with an electrical cord and sexually battered her.”

The victim was taken to Rockledge Regional Hospital for evaluation, her injuries included at least two broken ribs. 

Tanner is being held at the Brevard County Jail without bond. He’s due back in front of a judge on July 26, records show.