A federal judge orders R. Kelly to pay more than $300,000 to his sex-trafficking victims

• A federal judge on Wednesday ordered R. Kelly to pay $309,088 in restitution to his victims.
• The government previously seized more than $27,000 from the singer's prison commissary account.

A New York federal judge on Wednesday ordered singer R. Kelly to pay more than $300,000 in restitution to the victims of his sex trafficking and racketeering scheme.

Kelly, whose real name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, is serving a 30-year sentence stemming from a decadeslong scheme of grooming girls and young women for illegal sex. He was convicted in September 2021.

At a hearing Wednesday, federal Judge Ann Donnelly ordered Kelly to pay $300,668.18 in restitution to a victim identified as Jane and $8,400 to another victim identified as Stephanie, according to CourtHouse News.

Jane and Stephanie will both receive for reimbursement money for psychological services and herpes treatment, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York. Donnelly denied restitution to a third victim, who was identified as Sonja.

Sonja testified during Kelly's trial that he had sexually abused her when she was a radio intern seeking to interview him. When Sonja visited Kelly's studio in Chicago, she was locked in a room and sexually assaulted, she testified.

Prosecutors at his sentencing hearing in June alleged Kelly sold some of his music rights for around $5 million just before his first federal trial, arguing that the gains should be considered when the court issues him fines.

Kelly's attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, countered that her client was "pretty close to indigent" and said she was "not familiar with him being able to get $5 million."

Judge Donnelly called that "a stretch" when she handed down the 30-year sentence and $140,000 in fines: One for $100,000 based on the conviction plus a statutory $40,000 human-trafficking penalty.

Earlier this month, Donnelly ordered for $27,828 to be seized from Kelly's prison commissary account because he had not paid any of that debt. Donnelly ordered for the money to be placed in an interest-bearing account and to be given to Kelly's victims as the first part of his restitution.

On September 14, a federal jury in Chicago also found Kelly guilty on child pornography charges after a separate trial. Sentencing in that case is scheduled for February 23, 2023.

Derrel McDavid, Kelly's former business manager, and Milton Brown, a former assistant, also stood trial for their alleged involvement in Kelly's child porn scheme. Both men were found not guilty of conspiring to receive child pornography.