SingerR. Kellyhas been arrested on federal charges including child pornography, racketeering and obstruction of justice, indictment documents and his lawyer confirmed.
“R. Kelly was arrested in Chicago tonight on charges contained in a 13-count indictment returned today in the Northern District of Illinois,” the attorney’s office said in a statement on Thursday, according toABC News. “The indictment includes charges of child pornography and obstruction of justice.”
Prosecutors alleged Kelly and his team, including managers, bodyguards and assistants, “paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to victims and witnesses” to ensure they would not cooperate with law enforcement, theAssociated Press reports. The Chicago indictment also accused Kelly of using physical abuse, violence and blackmail to “prevent victims from providing evidence to law enforcement.”
R. Kelly in court Friday.Tom Gianni/AP/Shutterstock
The singer has also been hit witha separate five-count indictmentfrom the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, which was unsealed on Friday. It includes charges of racketeering and violations of the Mann Act, which “prohibits transporting people across state lines for the purpose of prostitution,” theNew York Timesreported.
R. Kelly.Nuccio DiNuzzo/Getty
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s requests for comment. The NYPD declined to comment.
Kelly is expected to be arraigned in court in Chicago on Friday, theTimesreported, and will eventually be extradited to New York to face charges there.
In astatement issued via Twitter, Kelly’s lawyer, Steve Greenberg, said that “the conduct alleged appears to largely be the same as the conduct previously alleged against Mr. Kelly in his current State indictment and his former State charges that he was acquitted of. Most, if not all of the conduct alleged, is decades old.”
Attorney Gloria Allred, who represents three of the women, said in a statement to PEOPLE that she was “very proud of [her] many clients who shared what they allege against Mr. Kelly with investigators and prosecutors.”
“It was very emotional for many of them to relive what they say is the truth about their relationship with Mr. Kelly and others in his business. Many of them decided to speak to law enforcement because they wanted to assist law enforcement in pursuing justice,” Allred said.
“This new indictment is important and I’m glad that the U.S. Department of Justice has committed to investigating this case and ultimately that they made the decision to prosecute Mr. Kelly, because the United States Justice Department has very significant resources to devote to a full and fair nationwide investigation of Mr. Kelly,” she continued.
“This is a very positive day for those who allege that they are victims of Mr. Kelly and it is a day that I’m sure that Mr. Kelly hoped would never come,” she added. “Justice, which is long overdue for his victims, will soon be done. I look forward to seeing Mr. Kelly in a court of law in New York.”
Matt Marton/AP/REX/Shutterstock
The new federal charges come after the “I Believe I Can Fly” singerpleaded not guiltyto various state sex-related charges earlier this year.
In February, he was also hit with10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuseagainst four alleged victims, three of which were specially referred to as under the age of 17. Hepleaded not guiltyto all of the charges.
An arrest warrant was issued for Kelly in February after the first charges were announced, and hesurrendered to Chicago policehours later.
He wasreleased from jail three days laterafter paying 10 percent of his $1 million bail amount, the Cook County Sheriff confirmed to PEOPLE at the time.
Matt Marton/AP/Shutterstock
Kelly, who was also the subject ofthe documentarySurviving R. Kellyearlier this year, has maintained his innocence throughout his legal troubles. After his not guilty plea last month, his lawyer Greenberg said his client is feeling “positive.”
“If you didn’t do it, then you didn’t do it,” he said, according to CBS News. “I think he’s feeling positive. It’s tough. Everything is against him.”
The singer made headlines amid his legal trouble for anemotionally charged interviewwith Gayle King in early March in which he broke down in tears as he denied the allegations facing him.
“Forget how you feel about me! Hate me if you want to, love me if you want, but use your common sense!” he told King during theCBS This Morninginterview. “How stupid would it be for me with my crazy past and what I’ve been through to be like, ‘Oh right now, I think I need to be a monster and hold girls against their will, chain ’em up in my basement and don’t let ’em eat and don’t let ’em out?’”
source: people.com
