R. Kelly, currently serving a more than 30-year prison sentence in North Carolina, has requested the U.S. Supreme Court to review his federal sex crimes convictions.

His defence attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, has filed a petition to the Supreme Court, seeking to overturn his Chicago conviction for possession of child pornography and enticing minors to engage in sexual activity.

Bonjean argues that the charges should be dismissed due to the statute of limitations. R. Kelly, who was already serving a 30-year sentence for sex trafficking from his 2021 New York case, received an additional 20-year sentence in 2023 for child pornography in Chicago.

He is also appealing his New York conviction, although it is not part of the current Supreme Court petition.

“Defendant’s charges were time barred,” the petition says. “Because Congress did not expressly state that the PROTECT Act should apply retroactivity and even rejected a version of the bill that include a retroactive provision, the PROTECT Act did not extend the statute of limitations and Defendant was convicted of time-barred offenses.”

R. Kelly has already tried to appeal his conviction, based on the same statute of limitations argument, which was upheld by a federal appeals court this past April.

Judges rejected Bonjean’s argument, stating in their decision that “it is not unconstitutional to apply a newer statute of limitations to old conduct when the defendant was subject to prosecution at the time of the change, as Kelly was in 2003.”

After her appeal was denied, Bonjean has now taken her case directly to the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court only considers a limited number of cases each year, giving the Department of Justice an opportunity to respond and oppose the petition.

Don’t miss out! Get your daily dose of Entertainment news and more straight to your phone. Join Ghana Street Journal Whatsapp channel now!