Following the September 27 guilty verdict, a lawyers representing R. Kelly has revealed that the disgraced singer was placed on suicide watch.
Steve Greenberg, appearing on Wednesday (October 20) before Chicago U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber, told the judge of Kelly’s placement on the watch. After being found guilty of racketeering and sex trafficking, the monitoring began. While Kelly never expressed any desire or indications of self-harm, the Metropolitan Detention Center, Brooklyn was taking no chances. When facing substantial punishment for crimes, federal authorities have found it wise to keep an eye on prisoners. It is unclear just much time Kelly spent on the suicide watch. However, we can confirm that he is no longer on watch, and the restrictions have been relaxed.
While not actively looking to harm himself, Kelly is reportedly looking to change legal teams. In the wake of the verdict, Greenberg claims that Kelly is “looking to bring in new lawyers from New York”. After all, he hasn’t even been sentenced yet. Final sentencing for the racketeering-trafficking trial is set to take place May 4, 2022. He was found guilty in September of eight counts of the Mann Act. The act is an anti-sex trafficking statute which includes transporting minors over state borders for prostitution. In addition to this, he was also found guilty of one count of racketeering.
The trials continue
And what’s more, Kelly will be in trial yet again the following August on more sex abuse charges.
Kelly, along with associates Derrel McDavid and Milton “June” Brown are all charged with numerous sexual abuse charges. These include producing child pornography. By court records, Kelly videotaped himself having sexual relations with three underage girls. He faces ten years minimum for the child pornography charge. The Grio previously reported that Kelly has plead not guilty to these charges.
