R. Kelly has reportedly been injured in prison, and as a result, is said to be trying to use the injury to get out of traveling to New York for an upcoming restitution hearing involving his victims.
Kelly’s legal team asked a judge on Thursday (September 15) if the disgraced R&B singer could appear virtually at the forthcoming hearing, which was scheduled to take place on September 28. According to documents obtained by AllHipHop, Kelly injured his leg, making it difficult for him to move around.
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“Undersigned counsel writes to respectfully request that Defendant Kelly be permitted to appear via zoom for the September 28th, 2022, restitution hearing,” attorney Ashley Cohen wrote. “Mr. Kelly is currently housed at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago, Illinois. Mr. Kelly has sustained an injury to his leg that makes traveling challenging and uncomfortable.”
Cohen added: “Furthermore, a significant amount of resources would have to be utilized to have Mr. Kelly flown in from Chicago to the Eastern District of New York for this hearing. For the foregoing reasons, Defendant respectfully requests that he be permitted to appear via zoom for the hearing. The government has no objection to this request.”
While it’s unclear how Kelly injured his leg, the injury was sustained a day after he was convicted of child pornography charges by a federal jury in his hometown of Chicago. The “Ignition” crooner had already been sentenced to 30 years behind bars in New York, and is still facing criminal charges in Minnesota, which have remained on hold during his federal trials. The minimum sentence for child pornography charges in Chicago is 10 years.
R. Kelly’s New York court date also comes after a New York judge demanded that $28,000 he had collected in inmate commissary be seized from the account and used to cover a portion of his $140,000 court fines and as part of the paid restitution for his victims. He now reportedly has $500 to his name.
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Kelly’s attorney Jennifer Bonjean tweeted the move was “unethical,” and wrote, “After seizing his funds and after sending this email, @EDNYnews decided to file a motion to confiscate his trust account money. You’re supposed to do that BEFORE you take the money.”
Meanwhile, Freddie Gibbs said in a recent interview with Funk Flex that he plans to deposit some more money into Kelly’s prison account, noting the singer is “down bad.”
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“I said ‘fuck him’ like I love him. I told y’all I be joking. Fuck you n-gga, I’m the new king of R&B. He gotta sit down. I’m going to put something on your books. Don’t worry, Kellz. I got you, Sylvester,” Gibbs said after performing a freestyle.
