R. Kelly’s Request for Release on Bail Due to COVID-19 Denied by Judge
Written by laserteam on April 8, 2020
A federal judge in New York has denied R. Kelly’s request to be released from prison on bail due to the COVID-19 crisis. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Anne Donnelly of the Eastern District of New York ruled the singer must remain in custody at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago, Illinois, as Billboard reports.
Kelly faces several states and federal charges. In New York, the federal charges include racketeering, transportation to engage in illegal sexual activity and coercion of a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity. In Illinois, he is awaiting trial in federal court on several sexual abuse allegations including child pornography as well as Cook County sexual assault and abuse charges. Kelly has pleaded not guilty to the indictments. In Minnesota, he has also been charged with solicitation of a minor for sexual purposes.
Last month, Kelly’s attorney’s filed a motion requesting their client’s release on bail due to COVID-19 concerns. “While I am sympathetic to the defendant’s understandable anxiety about COVID-19, he has not established compelling reasons warranting his release,” U.S. District Judge Anne Donnelly wrote in her opinion, per Billboard. “At present, there are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the MCC in Chicago.”
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via Rolling Stone
