R. Kelly says he’s in danger and has asked Trump to intervene. The R&B singer claimed there was a plot to kill him in prison, and his legal team has filed an emergency motion asking for his immediate release to home detention.
Kelly, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, is currently serving a 30-year sentence in North Carolina for sex trafficking and abusing minors. He’s also serving a concurrent 20-year sentence from a conviction in Chicago.
The singer was convicted in 2022 of multiple child pornography charges.
Murder-for-release plot alleged
According to a 20-page emergency motion obtained by Variety, the singer’s lawyers said a terminally ill inmate was offered freedom outside during his last days in exchange for killing the singer.
That inmate, identified as Aryan Brotherhood gang leader Mikeal Glenn Stine, allegedly confronted Kelly in March but backed out at the last moment and revealed the plot instead.
Kelly’s legal team said both men are being targeted again. A second member of the same gang has allegedly been ordered to kill both Kelly and Stine, according to TMZ.
Longstanding denial and past accusations
Kelly has denied the abuse accusations since the 1990s. It all started with his illegal 1994 marriage to R&B singer Aaliyah, who was just 15 at the time. The couple’s forged certificate said she was 18.
Kelly’s attorney, Beau Brindley, said in a press conference on Tuesday, June 10, that they were seeking a direct appeal to the president.
“We are seeking a conversation with the president because R. Kelly does not have the time, with his life in danger, to go through the normal channels,” he said.
Brindley argued that Kelly’s case aligned with Trump’s recent high-profile pardons. The president recently pardoned reality stars Todd and Julie Chrisley and gang leader Larry Hoover.
