OK, It's not about Rrrrrr. We know he loves the video camera. But it's the other people involved...a famous baseball player and his gospel-singing wife!
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A Chicago jury has returned a guilty verdict in a sex-tape case involving R. Kelly. Just not that sex-tape case.
Candid-camera enthusiast Kelly was merely a costar in the trial that ended Monday with a Windy City gadfly convicted in an extortion scheme targeting New York Yankees star Gary Sheffield.
Derrick Mosley, a self-proclaimed minister and community activist, was found guilty by a federal jury of two counts of extortion and two counts of wire fraud for allegedly trying to blackmail Sheffield and his wife, gospel singer DeLeon Richards-Sheffield, over videos featuring her having sex with a certain "I Believe I Can Fly" singer.
During the weeklong trial, Sheffield's business manager and a representative of the Yankees both testified that they were contacted in November 2004 by Mosley, who told them of the videotaped romp featuring Kelly and Richards-Sheffield.
They quoted Mosley as saying the video, shot before the Sheffields were married, would harm both the Yankees' reputation and Richards-Sheffield's standing in the gospel community if it fell into the wrong hands. Mosley, 39, asked for $20,000 to counsel the missus "about reform and her moral standing" and destroy the video.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Clarence Butler Jr. also played audiotape of Mosley's meeting with Sheffield's manager, Rufus Williams. Williams had tipped off the FBI of Mosley's scheme and agents wired him for a meeting.
In his closing arguments, defense attorney Michael Petro repeatedly told jurors, "If there's no threat to 'D,' you must set Derrick free," per the Chicago Sun-Times. "Extortion requires a threat. There was no threat," the attorney said.
"The threat [was] to damage her reputation and injure her reputation," countered Butlerr. "This didn't have a damned thing to do with counseling at all...What he wanted was $20,000."
Per reports, the jury deliberated for just three hours before rendering its verdict. Petro said he would file an appeal.
Neither Sheffield nor Kelly testified during the trial. The tape itself was not played for jurors.
At the time of Mosley's arrest, Sheffield said that his wife had a relationship with "a musician" a decade ago, before they were married. "I have not seen the alleged videotape, nor do I care to," he said. "I love my wife and I vow again to stand by her through any trial or tribulation."
Kelly's lawyer declined to comment Monday. But last year, the singer's publicist issued a statement addressing the Sheffield-Mosley case.
"We have heard second-hand reports that the tape allegedly shows consenting adults, including someone identified as R. Kelly, engaged in sexual activity. Since we haven't seen the tape, we can neither confirm nor deny that it is in fact Mr. Kelly," said Kelly spokesman Allan Mayer.
"We can, however, confirm that no one is suggesting the tape depicts anything but the activities of consenting adults."
Mosley faces a maximum of 44 years in prison when he is sentenced Jan. 18.
That will be about the same time Kelly prepares for his own trial on 14 counts of child pornography stemming from another tape that purportedly shows him having sex with a minor. The 38-year-old Grammy winner has pleaded not guilty to the charges.