When a judge was ready to sentenceR.
This one was an exception, and not just because it was so high profile.
It was a chance for R. Kellys victims to finally confront him, to look him in the eye.
U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace during a press conference in Brooklyn on Oct. 22, 2024Lev Radin/Sipa USA/AP
Peace wanted to be there to send a message: Its OK to come forward, tell your story.
I dont know if Ill ever be whole, added a second survivor, who wished to remain anonymous.
Then the judge sentenced R. Kelly to 30 years.
And its important to hear those voices and vindicate those interests and respect those people.
I dont know if therell be a reckoning or what that would look like, he adds.
Then we can take action.
Peace isnt talking in the abstract.
(No, seriously.)
Nocella will also be overseeing EDNYswidely-reported investigations into Eric Adams inner circle.
(Even Ray Charles can see whats going on, the mayor said earlier this week.)
Peace was measured in his response to Adams and his accusations of prosecutions as political persecutions.
Everyones free to state their positions, and everyone is entitled to a vigorous defense, he tells me.
Peace also added that he expected his Trump-appointed successor to keep his offices investigations going.
I can see no reason why it shouldnt, or anybody wouldnt want it to continue.
It even leads to the New York governors mansion.
Thats one of the things thats been challenging about that threat.
Its many different forms.
Its infiltration of the government at a bunch of different levels.
Peace still wont offer one now.
We went back and forth about these international cases for a bit longer.
But Peace kept wanting to talk about cases closer to home.
When the verdict came down as guilty, the place erupted.
Yall just killed two innocent people, one of the defendants yelled.
A supporter screamed, Bullshit.
He didnt do it.
The feds made the witnesses lie.
Marshals had to be brought in to keep things from getting out of hand, Peace remembers.
A third member of the alleged conspiracy is supposed to go on trial in a year from now.
