Topline
Lawyers representing R. Kelly, the disgraced R&B singer serving decades in prison for racketeering and child sex crimes, have made multiple allegations in recent days that prison staff are attempting to kill him, which prosecutors slammed as “fanciful” and “deeply unserious,” as the singer pleads President Donald Trump for a pardon.
Singer R. Kelly’s lawyers have alleged prison staff have tried to kill him. (Erin Hooley/Chicago … More
Key Facts
R. Kelly’s lawyers claimed in a court filing Monday staff at his North Carolina federal prison had given the singer an excessive amount of his medication that caused him to overdose and “could have killed him,” pleading the court to allow him temporary furlough to home detention.
Kelly’s lawyers called the alleged overdose a “plot to take Mr. Kelly’s life,” also claiming prison staff ignored blood clots Kelly had complained about in his leg, alleging they refused to let doctors perform surgery on him after they discovered the clots during his hospitalization for the overdose.
Kelly alleged earlier this month in a filing requesting temporary furlough that a fellow inmate, Mikeal Glenn Stine, who is a leader of the white supremacist Aryan Brotherhood group, told the singer prison staff had enlisted him to kill Kelly.
Kelly’s lawyers alleged prison staff told Stine, who is terminally ill, he would be charged for Kelly’s murder and that the evidence would be mishandled so he would not be convicted, but Stine had a change of heart and instead told Kelly about the alleged plot.
Beau B. Brindley, Kelly’s lawyer, has told multiple media outlets he reached out to President Donald Trump’s office to seek a pardon, telling USA TODAY Trump is the “only person with the courage and the power to fight corruption in the prosecution of public figures and stomp it out.”
Prosecutors slammed Kelly’s murder plot claims as “deeply unserious” and “fanciful,” with assistant U.S. attorney Jason Julien arguing Monday “no court has the ability to enter an order freeing Kelly’s victims from the prison that Kelly put them in” and that allowing inmates to seek release for fear of harm would be a slippery slope.
What To Watch For
A judge is set to rule on Kelly’s motion for temporary furlough at a hearing on Friday, according to court documents.
Which Celebrities Has Trump Pardoned?
Should Kelly’s appeal to Trump for a pardon succeed, he would be the latest in a series of singers and celebrities to be pardoned by the president. Trump most recently pardoned reality television stars Todd and Julie Chrisley in May, three years after they were convicted for fraud and tax evasion, with Trump arguing they were “prosecuted because they were celebrities.” Also last month, Trump pardoned rapper NBA YoungBoy, who was previously sentenced to prison on weapons charges. Rappers Lil Wayne and Kodak Black were among Trump’s last-minute pardons before leaving his first term in office four years ago.
Todd Chrisley walked free from prison in May after Trump pardoned him. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Trump pardoned Lil Wayne in 2021. (Photo by Erika Goldring/Getty Images)
Which Celebrities Have Also Asked Trump For Pardons—but Not Received Them
Other celebrities have appealed to Trump for pardons, including “Tiger King” star Joe Exotic, who was convicted for plotting the murder of Carole Baskin in 2019. Some have speculated whether Trump will pardon Sean “Diddy” Combs amid his sex trafficking and racketeering trial. Trump, in response to a reporter’s question last month, said he would “look at the facts” and said he hasn’t spoken to Combs in years since he entered politics.
What Crimes Was R. Kelly Convicted Of?
Kelly, 58, was convicted in New York federal court in 2021 of sex trafficking and racketeering charges as prosecutors alleged he ran a scheme to recruit underage girls for sex, and he was sentenced the following year to three decades in prison. In 2023, Kelly was sentenced by a Chicago court to 20 years in prison, to be served at the same time as his New York sentence, after a jury found him guilty of child sex crimes related to his sexual abuse of his 14-year-old goddaughter. Kelly’s convictions followed decades of allegations of sexual abuse, with some alleged incidents involving minors. He was previously acquitted of child pornography charges in 2008, and his allegations received renewed attention in 2019 with the release of the “Surviving R. Kelly” documentary.
Further Reading
R. Kelly’s lawyer seeks Trump pardon, claims singer ‘fears that he might be killed’ (USA TODAY)
R. Kelly Is Convicted of All Counts After Decades of Accusations of Abuse (New York Times)
