Gloria Allred, the women's rights attorney who represents three of the accusers who testified and whose allegations formed the basis of some of the charges, praised her clients' courage and the work of federal investigators and prosecutors. Kelly's sex-trafficking trial, up to the guilty verdict Peter Fitzhugh, a Homeland Security agent who helped lead the investigation into the R&B star, said the verdict brought an end to Kelly’s “decade-long reign of terror over many vulnerable girls, boys and young women.” Attorney Jacquelyn Kasulis told reporters outside the courthouse in Brooklyn after the verdict. “To the victims in this case, your voices were heard and justice was finally served,” Acting U.S. He said Kelly's sentence will be calculated based on federal sentencing guidelines for the various crimes he's been convicted of, such as racketeering, which carries a recommended maximum of 20 years. Leonard said the late sentencing date for Kelly is not standard – usually federal judges set sentencing 90 or 120 days out – but is not unheard of and may be the result of the judge's schedule and also COVID-19 precautions. I didn't think the jury would believe that (Kelly) and the band were a 'criminal enterprise.'" "The nature of a (Racketeer Influenced and Corruption Organization) RICO case typically fits that of Mafia or drug kingpins directing their underlings to do various (illegal) things and this is a far different scenario. "I was optimistic that on the main charges, the racketeering charges, he would be found not guilty," Leonard said. Michael Irving Leonard, one of Kelly's lawyers in a similar federal case against him pending in Chicago, told USA TODAY he was surprised by the verdict. Kelly has been behind bars since his arrest in July 2019.