NEW YORK — A lawyer for R. Kelly struggled on Monday (March 18) to convince a US appeals court to overturn the former R&B superstar's sex trafficking conviction and 30-year prison sentence.

Kelly, 57, is appealing his September 2021 conviction by a Brooklyn, New York, jury on all nine charges he faced, including racketeering and eight counts of violating the Mann Act, which forbids transporting people across state lines for prostitution.