R. Kelly's Plea for Release on Bond Due to COVID-19 Denied

A New York Federal court denied R. Kelly's plea for release from jail due to the COVID-19 crisis. U.S. District Judge Anne Donnelly of the Eastern District of New York decided not to grant his request and ruled that he must remain in custody at the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in Chicago.

On March 26, the singer's attorney filed a motion to allow Kelly to be released on bond, citing the fear of being infected with the coronavirus. Steve Greenberg, Kelly's lawyer further added that due to the suspended legal and social visits in the facility, the defense team had not been able to meet with the accused.

R. Kelly is in prison and awaiting trial in New York on the grounds of racketeering, transportation to engage in sexual activity, and coercion of a minor to engage in illegal activity involving sex. The total number of non-bailable federal charges in the Brooklyn trial is nine. It s is currently scheduled to begin on July 7, but this may likely be moved due to the current pandemic situation.

He is also facing 13 federal charges in Illinois for separate sexual abuse allegations. The Chicago trial will begin in October, after being postponed when prosecutors found more than 100 electronic devices that Kelly owned. Kelly had pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

Judge Donnelly, in her written notice issued on April 7, stated, "While I am sympathetic to the defendant's understandable anxiety about COVID-19, he has not established compelling reasons warranting his release." She mentioned that currently, no confirmed case of COVID-19 had been recorded in MCC in Chicago.

Donnelly further said that the singer is not suitable for bail because he has not demonstrated any change in circumstances based on the previous ruling. The court believed he is a "flight risk and a danger to the community," particularly on "attempts to obstruct, threaten or intimidate prospective witnesses."

The judge also claimed that he is not among the CDC's most at-risk groups. Kelly, 53, is twelve years younger than the high-risk group for severe illness from COVID-19, as declared by the CDC. The singer was known to have undergone surgery during his time in prison, but the judge said no explanation was given on how it will put him at a higher risk of severe illness.

The Bureau of Prisons advised the government that doctors have completed Kelly's treatment.

The singer-songwriter filed a similar motion that he be released from custody through his lawyer to the Illinois federal court on March 26. Greenberg cited that the required social distancing is not possible in the correctional facility due to the proximity of the inmates. He further said that the risk of an internal pandemic at the MCC is most likely to occur, and the jail healthcare is substandard.

In the motion filed by his lawyer, Kelly would be staying with his girlfriend Jocelyn Savage at an apartment complex in Chicago, in case he will be released. It further stated that the singer would follow any conditions that the court will impose, including home incarceration. The defense lawyer also compared that being locked up in the facility under existing conditions is "tantamount to making them drink poison."

The Illinois court has yet to set its ruling on the appeal.

The two indictments that R. Kelly faces have a total of 22 federal charges involving 11 alleged victims, some of which are minors, which happened between 1994 and 2018. He had denied all the allegations.