美国国家公共电台 NPR--Federal prosecutors want R. Kelly to be sentenced to 25 years in prison

Federal prosecutors² want R. Kelly to be sentenced to 25 years in prison

Transcript³

R. Kelly will be sentenced in a New York courtroom on Wednesday. The disgraced R&B star was found guilty of crimes including violating the Mann Act, an anti-sex trafficking law.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

Later today in a New York City federal courtroom, a judge will be sentencing the disgraced R&B star R. Kelly. Last year, after an emotional seven-week-long trial, Kelly was found guilty of racketeering and sex trafficking. Now he could be facing life in prison. It's a moment victims have long been waiting for. NPR's Andrew Limbong from our culture desk is here to tell us more. And just a warning to our listeners, we will be talking about sexual abuse.

Hi, Andrew.

ANDREW LIMBONG, BYLINE⁵: Hey, A.

MART?NEZ: Now, give us a little bit more detail as to what R. Kelly was convicted of.

LIMBONG: Sure. So at the trial last year, federal prosecutors charged him with racketeering. You might recognize it as, like, the RICO Act. It's something usually used against mob bosses in organized crime cases. And what the prosecutors proved was that Kelly was at the head of a criminal enterprise that used his fame in the music world to lure⁶ his victims and coerce⁷ them into illegal sexual acts. His victims were, like, girls, young women and boys. And the victims who did testify at the trial spoke⁸ about how, you know, it was always someone in Kelly's crew who would hand them a phone number - right? - to say, oh, Kelly is interested in meeting. And then from there, there would be other people who would handle logistics - everything from, you know, traveling - so, like, booking cars or plane tickets - to making sure the victims signed NDAs.

MART?NEZ: How far-reaching did his abuse go?

LIMBONG: Yeah. He essentially⁹ hoped to control his victims' lives. You know, he'd coerce his victims into having sex with him or with each other. And he often taped all of this. And besides that, he'd have his bodyguards¹⁰ or drivers or assistants watch over his victims to make sure, you know, they weren't going anywhere unattended to or talking to anyone they weren't supposed to be talking to. And, you know, there were specific rules that the victims had to follow. Like, they had to wear baggy¹¹ clothes. They sometimes had to ask permission to use the bathroom. And they had to call Kelly Daddy. Kelly also made them write letters and filmed themselves falsely stating that, you know, they were doing this under their own volition¹² and weren't being forced by Kelly at all.

MART?NEZ: Wow. All right. So how much time is R. Kelly expected to get?

LIMBONG: Federal prosecutors are looking for more than 25 years in prison, and it seems likely that they'll get it. That's according to Moira Penza. She's a former federal prosecutor¹ who was part of the team that prosecuted¹³ Keith Ranieri in the NXIUM cult⁴ racketeering case.

MOIRA PENZA: Given the severity of the conduct with which R. Kelly was convicted, the fact that you have multiple victims over such an extended period of time, when you look at the extent of the physical, sexual and emotional abuse that he put these women and children through, I think a 25-year or more sentence is entirely¹⁴ appropriate, and that is likely what we are going to see him sentenced to in this case.

LIMBONG: And Penza says that now there will be a series of high-profile predators¹⁵ hit with racketeering charges. So hopefully that will send a signal not just to the heads of these enterprises, but also to the other people in the orbit.

MART?NEZ: And this isn't the end for R. Kelly because he's got another federal case coming up.

LIMBONG: Yeah, and that one is in Illinois. There he's being charged with sexually abusing minors¹⁶, creating and receiving child pornography, as well as obstructing¹⁷ justice. And that obstruction¹⁸ of justice charge actually goes back to that 2000 investigation¹⁹ that resulted in the 2008 child pornography trial where Kelly was acquitted²⁰ of all charges. And so that Illinois trial is set to take place in August.

MART?NEZ: That's NPR's Andrew Limbong. Thanks a lot.

LIMBONG: Thanks, A.

1 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

2 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 cult   

n.异教，邪教；时尚，狂热的崇拜

参考例句：

• Her books aren't bestsellers,but they have a certain cult following.她的书算不上畅销书，但有一定的崇拜者。
• The cult of sun worship is probably the most primitive one.太阳崇拜仪式或许是最为原始的一种。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 lure   

n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引

参考例句：

• Life in big cities is a lure for many country boys.大城市的生活吸引着许多乡下小伙子。
• He couldn't resist the lure of money.他不能抵制金钱的诱惑。

7 coerce   

v.强迫，压制

参考例句：

• You can't coerce her into obedience.你不能强制她服从。
• Do you think there is any way that we can coerce them otherwise?你认为我们有什么办法强迫他们不那样吗？

8 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

9 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

10 bodyguards   

n.保镖，卫士，警卫员( bodyguard的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Brooks came to Jim's office accompanied—like always—by his two bodyguards. 和往常一样，在两名保镖的陪同下，布鲁克斯去吉姆的办公室。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Three of his bodyguards were injured in the attack. 在这次袭击事件中，他有3名保镖受了伤。 来自辞典例句

11 baggy   

adj.膨胀如袋的，宽松下垂的

参考例句：

• My T-shirt went all baggy in the wash.我的T恤越洗越大了。
• Baggy pants are meant to be stylish,not offensive.松松垮垮的裤子意味着时髦，而不是无礼。

12 volition   

n.意志；决意

参考例句：

• We like to think that everything we do and everything we think is a product of our volition.我们常常认为我们所做和所想的一切都出自自己的意愿。
• Makin said Mr Coombes had gone to the police of his own volition.梅金说库姆斯先生是主动去投案的。

13 prosecuted   

a.被起诉的

参考例句：

• The editors are being prosecuted for obscenity. 编辑因刊载污秽文字而被起诉。
• The company was prosecuted for breaching the Health and Safety Act. 这家公司被控违反《卫生安全条例》。

14 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

15 predators   

n.食肉动物( predator的名词复数 )；奴役他人者（尤指在财务或性关系方面）

参考例句：

• birds and their earthbound predators 鸟和地面上捕食它们的动物
• The eyes of predators are highly sensitive to the slightest movement. 捕食性动物的眼睛能感觉到最细小的动静。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 minors   

n.未成年人( minor的名词复数 )；副修科目；小公司；[逻辑学]小前提v.[主美国英语]副修，选修，兼修( minor的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The law forbids shops to sell alcohol to minors. 法律禁止商店向未成年者出售含酒精的饮料。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He had three minors this semester. 这学期他有三门副修科目。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 obstructing   

阻塞( obstruct的现在分词 )； 堵塞； 阻碍； 阻止

参考例句：

• You can't park here, you're obstructing my driveway. 你不能在这里停车，你挡住了我家的车道。
• He was charged for obstructing the highway. 他因阻碍交通而受控告。

18 obstruction   

n.阻塞，堵塞；障碍物

参考例句：

• She was charged with obstruction of a police officer in the execution of his duty.她被指控妨碍警察执行任务。
• The road was cleared from obstruction.那条路已被清除了障碍。

19 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

20 acquitted   

宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（自己）作出某种表现

参考例句：

• The jury acquitted him of murder. 陪审团裁决他谋杀罪不成立。
• Five months ago she was acquitted on a shoplifting charge. 五个月前她被宣判未犯入店行窃罪。