A federal appeals court says singer R. Kelly was correctly sentenced to 20 years in prison on child sex convictions in Chicago

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has upheld the 20-year prison sentence of R&B singer R. Kelly, rejecting his appeal on the grounds that his convictions for child pornography and enticement of minors were correctly applied under current law.

R. Kelly’s sex-crime conviction and 20-year sentence in Chicago’s federal court will stand, an appeals court ruled Friday in a blistering opinion.

According to court documents obtained by The Daily Beast, Kelly appealed his convictions for Sexual Exploitation and Inducement of a Child on the grounds that the statute of limitations on the charges had run out, one of the charges should have been heard by a separate jury, and that 240-month sentence was “improper” procedurally.

R. Kelly’s hopes of a lighter sentence are just hopes now. A Chicago court has dismissed his appeal to review his 20-year sentence.

A federal appeals court rejected arguments from Kelly's attorneys that his indictment on child pornography and child enticement charges was filed after the statute of limitations had expired, and that his 20-year sentence was "unduly harsh.