By Dayo Ade Olusola M10News| Crime News Desk|20 June 2025
Chicago, IL — A federal judge in Chicago has denied an emergency motion filed by R&B singer R. Kelly, who is seeking immediate release from federal prison over allegations that officials are involved in a plot to kill him.
The motion, filed by Kelly’s legal team, made extraordinary claims, including that prison staff colluded with inmates, orchestrated a life-threatening drug overdose, and attempted to recruit a known gang member to carry out an attack on the singer.
But U.S. District Judge Martha Pacold swiftly dismissed the motion Thursday, ruling that her court lacks the authority to intervene in Kelly’s current imprisonment in North Carolina.
“Kelly is currently housed at FCI Butner, which is located in Butner, North Carolina—outside this judicial district,” Judge Pacold wrote in her decision. “Kelly has not demonstrated a legal basis for this court’s jurisdiction. Accordingly, his emergency motion … is denied.”
Allegations of Sabotage Behind Bars
In the filing, Kelly’s attorneys argued that a former cellmate in the Chicago Metropolitan Correctional Center was working with staff to intercept and leak his confidential legal documents to federal prosecutors prior to his 2021 trial.
The more alarming claim, however, involves what the defense described as an alleged assassination attempt at the federal facility in North Carolina.
According to the filing, prison officials tried to persuade an Aryan Brotherhood member to murder Kelly — a charge the government has flatly denied.
The motion also accused prison personnel of inducing a drug overdose and forcibly removing Kelly from a hospital before he was medically cleared for release.
Trump Mentioned in Motion
In a move that drew media attention, the defense included a public appeal to former President Donald Trump, asking him to intervene in the matter. The plea has so far gone unanswered.
Federal prosecutors described the filing as “baseless and offensive,” asserting that Kelly is misusing the court system to attract attention and avoid accountability.
“Kelly refuses to accept responsibility for years of sexually abusing children and is using this Court’s docket merely to promote himself,” prosecutors wrote in response.
Legal Status and Sentencing
Robert Sylvester Kelly, now 58, is currently serving a 30-year sentence handed down in New York in 2021 for racketeering and sex trafficking involving minors. He was later convicted in Chicago on child pornography charges in a separate federal trial in 2022.
His sentences are largely concurrent, with a projected release date set for December 21, though that is subject to change depending on appeals or additional legal developments.
Kelly maintains his innocence and continues to pursue legal avenues to challenge his convictions and conditions of incarceration.
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