R. Kelly

CHICAGO >> The superstar-turned-felon wouldn’t be eligible for release until 2066, a year shy of his 100th birthday, if a federal judge accepts prosecutors’ recommendations at his sentencing hearing Thursday in his hometown of Chicago.

Kelly, 56, will be sentenced on his convictions from last year in Chicago of child pornography and enticement. He is already serving 30 years for his 2021 racketeering and sex trafficking convictions in New York.

The central question for Judge Harry Leinenweber is whether to order that Kelly serve a Chicago sentence simultaneously with the New York sentence or that he start serving his Chicago sentence only after he completes the New York term.

If the singer is ordered to serve the sentences one after the other, that would practically erase any chance of Kelly ever getting out of prison alive.

What are prosecutors asking for?

In a sentencing memo last week, they recommended Kelly serve 25 more years and that he serve it consecutively to the New York sentence.

What sentence does the defense want?

Kelly’s lawyer, Jennifer Bonjean, asked for a sentence of around 10 years — on the low end of the guideline range.

What are the criteria for a consecutive sentence?

By statute, the default for judges is to allow defendants to serve their sentences simultaneously — which courts call “concurrently” — which effectively means they serve only the longest sentence imposed.

Will Kelly address the court at sentencing?

It’s not clear he will, though he risks Judge Leinenweber holding that against him. Judges often like to hear expressions of remorse at sentencing. Most defendants do speak.

Kelly did not speak at his 2022 sentencing in New York.