R. Kelly Seeks Early Release, Alleges Prison Plot to Silence Him
R. Kelly is asking a federal court to reduce his decades-long prison sentence, claiming officials at the North Carolina facility where he is incarcerated conspired with gang members to have him killed — a move he alleges was meant to silence him from exposing prosecutorial misconduct.
The disgraced R&B singer, who is currently serving a combined sentence of over 30 years at the Federal Correctional Institution in Butner, N.C., filed a motion on Tuesday (June 10) seeking immediate release. In the filing, Kelly asserts that he is no longer safe behind bars due to an alleged murder plot orchestrated by prison staff.
According to Kelly, the motive behind the alleged scheme is tied to claims that his pre-trial cellmate stole confidential communications between Kelly and his legal team, then passed those privileged documents on to prosecutors. Kelly’s legal team argues that the government is attempting to bury this misconduct by eliminating him.
The motion names fellow inmate Mikeal Glenn Stine, reportedly affiliated with the Aryan Brotherhood gang, as the person prison officials allegedly approached to carry out the hit. While Kelly’s attorneys say Stine ultimately declined to follow through, they claim the danger persists.
“More A.B. members are accumulating at his facility,” the motion states. “More than one has already been approached about carrying out his murder. One of them will surely do what Mr. Stine has not, thereby burying the truth about what happened in this case along with Robert Kelly.”
The court filing includes sworn declarations from both Stine and the former cellmate accused of leaking the confidential information.
In a statement to Billboard, Kelly’s attorney, Beau Brindley, accused the Department of Justice of targeting Kelly through “corrupt and criminal means” and said the legal team is now seeking clemency from former President Donald Trump. According to Brindley, Trump is “the only one with both the power and the courage” to intervene.
Prosecutors responded swiftly, filing their own motion urging the court to strike Kelly’s request due to the unredacted mention of a child victim whose identity had been protected during trial.
“Robert Kelly is a serial sexual predator,” prosecutors wrote. “He even documented his sexual abuse of children on film — creating child pornography — such that the abuse would live on in perpetuity. That abuse and harassment continues with defendant’s latest filing.”
Judge Martha M. Pacold granted the prosecution’s request, striking the motion and ordering Kelly’s legal team to resubmit it with the victim’s name properly redacted. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for Wednesday (June 11) in Chicago.
Kelly was convicted in two separate federal trials: first in New York in 2021 for racketeering and sex trafficking, and then in Chicago in 2022 for child pornography and enticement of minors. He received a 30-year sentence in the New York case and a 20-year sentence in the Chicago case, though the majority of the latter is set to run concurrently with the first. Both convictions have been upheld on appeal.
