Disgraced R&B singer R. Kelly will remain in federal custody after a U.S. District Court judge rejected his emergency motion for release, citing a lack of jurisdiction and insufficient legal grounds.
The motion, filed earlier this month by Kelly’s legal team, alleged that the singer’s life was in imminent danger due to alleged misconduct and threats within the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Attorneys claimed prison staff at the Federal Correctional Complex in Butner, North Carolina, were complicit in a plot to harm Kelly and failed to provide adequate medical treatment for serious health conditions, including blood clots.
In a strongly worded ruling, Judge Martha M. Pacold stated that the court was not authorized to grant such emergency relief, writing that “extraordinary claims must still meet basic legal thresholds.” The court found that Kelly’s legal team had not provided sufficient evidence or cited applicable statutes that would allow the court to intervene in prison management decisions.
R. Kelly, born Robert Sylvester Kelly, is currently serving concurrent sentences of 30 years for federal racketeering and sex trafficking convictions out of New York, and an additional 20 years for child pornography and enticement convictions in Chicago. Kelly has continued to deny all charges and has filed multiple appeals, all of which have been denied to date.