R. Kelly funneled millions of dollars from music royalties through a childhood friend right before his sex-trafficking conviction, prosecutors allege

• Prosecutors said that R. Kelly sold his music rights for $5 million around the time of his trial.

• The proceeds should be taken into account when a judge fines someone.

• Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison, with $140,000 in fines, and will have to repay the money.

Prosecutors said in court Wednesday that R. Kelly had access to millions of dollars from the sale of some of his music royalties and funneled them through a childhood friend around the time of his sex-trafficking trial.

The claims were made by the assistant US Attorney during the singer's sentencing hearing in Brooklyn federal court. Kelly was found guilty on sex-trafficking charges.

According to Geddes, Kelly received revenue from two different types of intellectual property rights. The other is from his master recordings. The rights to his compositions and lyrics were held by Kelly until August 2021.

Kelly's master recordings have not been paid royalties by Sony as the company deals with lawsuits against him. They owe $7 million in judgments and are currently holding on to between $3.5 and $4.5 million worth of royalties.

The composition and lyrics rights were sold in August. The person who bought them was not identified by prosecutors. The money was being held by Kelly's childhood friend. Halbert got hundreds of thousands of dollars from those rights.

The attorney for Kelly said at Wednesday's hearing that royalties went down dramatically during the trial.

She didn't know that he was able to get $5 million.

Bonjean argued that the potential for future royalties shouldn't be taken into account by the judge. She pointed out that many people don't play his music because he's a sex trafficker. She said that he struggles with literacy because of his contracts.

Bonjean thinks he's close to the poor. He doesn't have a lot of money.

The 30-year sentence was accompanied by a $100,000 fine and a $40,000 human traffickers penalty. The September hearing was set.

Kelly's biological sisters, on his father's side, shook their heads as Donnelly ruled on the financial penalties he would face.

"I don't think indigence is that big of a deal," he said.

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