Imprisoned R&B singer R. Kelly has accused U.S. prison officials of plotting to kill him, alleging in court filings that he was targeted for murder with the help of white supremacist gang members and intentionally overdosed by staff. His legal team is requesting temporary release to home detention, citing what they call a “credible and urgent threat.”
Kelly, 58, collapsed and was hospitalized at Butner federal prison in North Carolina, where he is serving concurrent 20- and 30-year sentences for child sex abuse and racketeering. His attorneys say he suffered blood clots in his lungs after being drugged and was denied recommended surgery before being returned to solitary confinement.
“They overdosed him. They left him with blood clots and removed him from a hospital that intended to operate,” attorney Beau Brindley wrote, accusing the Bureau of Prisons of attempting to silence Kelly after he exposed an alleged murder plot involving prison staff.
The filings include a declaration from an Aryan Brotherhood leader who claims prison officials asked the gang to kill Kelly. Federal prosecutors have dismissed the claims as “repugnant” and “a fanciful conspiracy,” arguing that Kelly is simply trying to avoid accountability for his crimes.
Kelly is scheduled to appear in federal court in Chicago on Friday. The Bureau of Prisons declined to comment.
Once one of the biggest names in R&B, Kelly was convicted in Chicago in 2022 of producing child sexual abuse images and luring minors for sex. That followed a 2021 conviction in New York for racketeering and sex trafficking. His appeals have all failed, including a recent one to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Kelly is currently serving both sentences simultaneously.