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R. Kelly‘s been doing his bid for quite some time now and while some men might’ve just taken their sentence and accepted it for what it was, R. Kelly’s lawyer continues to try to spring the R&B Thug from prison and is doing what she can to get a judge to grant Kelly his wish.
The Vulture is reporting that in her latest argument, R. Kelly’s attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, invoked the names of Matt Lauer and Roger Ailes in new court papers pointing out prosecutors went about the Kelly case much more differently than they did Lauer and Ailes, basically stating that The R. singer was pursued and punished much more harshly than both Matt Lauer and Roger Ailes.
“Bonjean’s mention of Lauer and Ailes stems from how prosecutors pursued a racketeering rap against Kelly. The prosecution argued at trial that Kelly’s sexual predation was not merely a collection of isolated instances of abuse, but rather was carried out as an organized criminal enterprise — which is where the racketeering charge came in. Federal prosecutors cited specific instances of sexual misconduct ranging from grooming minors to psychological manipulation — and traced the vast network of handlers who enabled it — to argue their racketeering case.”
In other words, Bonjean argues that if R. Kelly’s actions were viewed as a “racketeering enterprise” then both CNBC and Fox News should also be considered RICO enterprises as they basically enabled Matt Lauer and Roger Ailes sexual misconduct towards women.
“By the government’s logic, if Ailes’ assistants carried out tasks, such as scheduling appointments, arranging transportation or making lunch reservations for Ailes and women he harassed or assaulted, those assistants constitute members of a RICO enterprise irrespective of their knowing involvement in Ailes’ unlawful conduct,” Bonjean wrote.
Same goes for Matt Lauer who was fired from CNBC after allegations of sexual misconduct and even rape surfaced in 2017.
Noting that this seems to come down to simple race preference, Bonjean added, “Of course, the government has shown no willingness to use its aggressive RICO theory against powerful White men.”
Well, she’s not wrong. Still, we just don’t see a judge letting R. Kelly walk given everything that’s come to light about his behavior over the years.
Then again, we said the same thing about Bill Cosby and Bonjean was able to successfully get his conviction overturned. Will she be able to work the same magic for R. Kelly? Guess we’ll have to wait and see.
R. Kelly is due back in court for sentencing on May 4th.
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