[Image: Antonio Perez / Heute.at]
Disgraced R&B singer R Kelly, whose real name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, was hospitalised last week after allegedly being given too much medication by prison staff while in solitary confinement.
Kelly’s lawyer, Beau Brindley, says the singer was placed in isolation on June 10 and lost consciousness three days later after being given anxiety medication by prison staff. He was taken to Duke University Hospital on June 13 and kept under medical observation for two days before being returned to his cell.
Brindley claims the dosage administered was dangerously high and believes it may have been intentional.
“This was no mistake,” he said in a court filing. “It was a dose that jeopardised his life and nearly ended it.”
“He started to see black spots in his vision. Mr. Kelly tried to get up, but fell to the ground,” the updated motion stated. “He crawled to the door of the cell and lost consciousness.”
The lawyers say leading up to the alleged overdose, Kelly was placed in solitary confinement “against his will,” shortly after his team filed an emergency motion for his release from prison last week.
Kelly’s team claims three Bureau of Prisons officials allegedly devised a plot to have him killed by another inmate. USAToday reports that they’ve even gone as far as urging President Trump to pardon him.
Kelly, 58, is currently serving a 30-year sentence in North Carolina after being convicted in 2021 of racketeering and violating sex trafficking laws. He was also found guilty in 2022 on federal charges in Chicago, including producing child pornography and enticing minors.
In 2023, he received a further 20-year sentence, but 19 of those years are being served concurrently, effectively extending his prison time by just one year.
The Bureau of Prisons declined to comment on “pending litigation.”
[Source: CapeTalk]
