R. Kelly removed from suicide watch at Brooklyn prison
R. Kelly will be moved to Illinois to stand trial at his upcoming federal trial
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}R. Kelly has been taken off of suicide watch at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn after being sentenced to 30 years in prison and ordered to pay a $100,000 fine on June 29.
"Defendants United States of America, Warden Heriberto H. Tellez, and MDC Brooklyn respectfully inform the Court that following a clinical assessment, Plaintiff Robert Sylvester Kelly, also known as ‘R. Kelly,’ was removed from suicide watch as of this morning, July 5, 2022. As a result, Plaintiff’s emergency motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction is now moot," Assistant United States Attorney Melanie Speight wrote in a letter filed by U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace.
Kelly was placed on suicide watch Friday after being convicted of racketeering and sex trafficking in his most recent trial in New York. His attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, told Fox News Digital at the time he "was placed on suicide watch for purely punitive reasons in violation of his Eighth Amendment rights."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In this courtroom artist's sketch R. Kelly, left, listens during his trial in New York, Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021. R. Kelly has been taken off of suicide watch at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn after being sentenced to 30 years in prison and ordered to pay a $100,000 fine on June 29. (AP Photo/Elizabeth Williams, File)
Bonjean said MDC was being run like "a gulag," writing that Kelly had expressed he was mentally fine. She wrote they were in the process of filing an emergency rule on July 1 "to show cause with the courts," saying the confinement to suicide watch was "illegal."
R. KELLY PLACED ON SUICIDE WATCH IN PRISON DESPITE NOT BEING SUICIDAL, ATTORNEY SAYS
The letter said the prosecution filed its opposition to Kelly's emergency motion and he "would continue to be clinically assessed daily for the duration of his suicide watch." The Bureau of Prisons announced Monday Kelly would be removed from suicide watch.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}This photo from Friday, May 9, 2008, shows R. Kelly arriving for the first day of jury selection in his child pornography trial at the Cook County Criminal Courthouse in Chicago. On Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2021, prosecutors in Kelly's sex trafficking trial at Brooklyn Federal Court in New York, played video and audio recordings for the jury they say back up allegations he abused women and girls. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)
Kelly will be moved to the Northern District of Illinois to stand trial in his upcoming federal sex crimes trial in Chicago, the letter read.
R. KELLY TIMELINE: SHINING STAR TO CONVICTED SEX TRAFFICKER
The singer was convicted of one count of racketeering that included 14 underlying acts of sexual exploitation of a child, kidnapping, bribery, and sex trafficking charges. He was also convicted of eight violations of the Mann Act for illegally transporting individuals across state lines for "immoral purposes."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In this courtroom artist's sketch made from a video screen monitor of a Brooklyn courtroom, defendant R. Kelly, left, listens during the opening day of his trial, Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2021 in New York. (AP Photo/Elizabeth Williams, File)
Kelly now awaits his Chicago trial where he is facing child pornography and obstruction-of-justice charges. The trial is slated for August 15.