Lawyers for musician R. Kelly say inmates inside a federal jail in Chicago have been taking out frustrations by beating up their famous client.
“Yesterday we were told that an inmate had attacked R. Kelly at the MCC in Chicago. We received conflicting reports as to the extent of his injuries. We have not been provided any information from the jail, nor has Mr. Kelly called. We are hopeful that he was not seriously injured,” Kelly’s lawyer tweeted.
Yesterday we were told that an inmate had attacked R Kelly at the MCC in Chicago. We received conflicting reports as to the extent of his injuries. We have not been provided any information from the jail, nor has Mr. Kelly called. We are hopeful that he was not seriously injured.
— Steve Greenberg (@SGcrimlaw) August 27, 2020
On Thursday, Kelly attorney’s Mike Leonard told USA Today the singer received “very minor bruising” in the fight at the Metropolitan Correctional Center. His lawyers said in an email they only learned of the confrontation on Wednesday.
In an e-mail Leonard said officials at the Federal Bureau of Prisons informed him that the other prisoner was mad at Kelly and assaulted him because he incorrectly thought that Kelly’s high-profile multiple sex-crime cases “had something to do with the lockdown conditions at the MCC Chicago, which they don’t. They are of course related to the COVID-19 (pandemic).”
Leonard continued to say that Kelly is now alone in protective custody for his own safety.
The Bureau of Prisons did not comment on the rumored assault. The BOP does not typically go into detail with the press about events that occur behind their walls, except in extreme cases such as the alleged suicide of Jeffrey Epstein.
Leonard along with Steve Greenberg, Kelly’s lead attorney in Chicago, claim the attack on their client emphasizes their rush to file multiple motions for Kelly’s release on bond while awaiting his day in court.
Kelly contends that he and others in care of the state are being left vulnerable to the potentially deadly pandemic while confined in the crowded environment of jails and prisons. As of now, all motions filed by his lawyers have been stopped short by a federal judge.
“Regardless, it is time to release Mr. Kelly,” Greenberg posted in a tweet on Thursday. “The government cannot ensure his safety, and they cannot give him his day in court. We should not incarcerate people indefinitely because we cannot provide them with due process!”
Regardless, it is time to release Mr. Kelly. The government cannot ensure his safety, and they cannot give him his day in court. We should not incarcerate people indefinitely because we cannot provide them with due process!
— Steve Greenberg (@SGcrimlaw) August 27, 2020
The supposed violent dustup with the other inmate on Wednesday “is yet another reason why (Kelly) should be on bond,” Leonard told USA Today.
The 53-year-old Kelly has been an inmate of the MCC Chicago for over a year. His charges comprise numerous sex crimes in three different states and four jurisdictions, including Brooklyn, Cook County, Ill., the federal Northern District of Illinois as well as in Hennepin County, Minn.
Kelly has pleaded not guilty to all charges, which contain sexual assault as well as supposedly masterminding a racketeering scheme meant to supply him with underage girls. In addition, Kelly is said to have had unprotected sex with a minor in 2015 without telling her he was positive for herpes.
Kelly is due back in front of a judge on Sept. 8 for a status hearing in the state case in Chicago. The R & B star’s trials were scheduled to begin in the fall; however, due to the COVID-19 health crisis were pushed back and will prolong Kelly’s wait.
The Brooklyn trial is still set to commence on Sept. 29 but may be postponed as well. The Chicago trial was scheduled to begin in October, but prosecutors there sought to delay the date because of fear over COVID-19 lockdown conditions, bringing with it several logistical problems which may result in a mistrial, legal experts say.