Over the weekend, R. Kelly found himself confined to a North Carolina medical facility for two harrowing days, asserting that he had been the victim of an overdose administered by prison personnel. An urgent supplement to his motion for release from prison, citing concerns for his safety, recounts, "Prison officials from the Bureau of Prisons administered a dangerous excess of medication, pushing Mr. Kelly into an overdose that endangered his life."
According to the supplement, Kelly relies on a regimen of medications to manage anxiety, aid sleep, and address other health needs. Last week, upon being placed in solitary confinement—a move his attorney contends was a punitive response to his filing of the emergency motion—Kelly alleges he displayed his medications to prison authorities.
Allegedly, the overdose transpired almost immediately after Kelly publicly spoke out about his solitary confinement. Further detailing the grave situation, the third supplement asserts that medical professionals informed Kelly of blood clots in his legs and lungs, necessitating surgical intervention. However, prison officials reportedly denied him this crucial procedure, citing the week-long recovery period it would entail.
The supplement laments, "Mr. Kelly's life hangs by a thread as the Bureau of Prisons denies him the vital surgery to remove the potentially fatal clots from his lungs. He risks death from this condition, and they are allowing it to unfold without just cause." Beau Brindley, Kelly's lawyer, relates to PEOPLE that this harrowing incident unfolded on June 13, when Kelly awoke in solitary confinement at the Federal Correctional Institution in Butner, North Carolina.
"He was overwhelmed by a sudden wave of faintness, his head spinning as dark spots began to dance in his vision," Brindley elaborated. Struggling valiantly, Kelly attempted to rise to his feet, only to fall back, unable to walk. Desperate, he "crawled towards the cell door, ultimately succumbing to unconsciousness," Brindley recounted.
Since Brindley filed an urgent motion on June 10th, seeking a temporary release for his client, the singer has reportedly been confined in solitary isolation. This emergency motion asserted a sinister conspiracy within the Bureau of Prisons to eliminate Kelly, urging for his placement under house arrest as an interim measure.
Accompanying the motion was a sworn statement from inmate Mikeal Glenn Stine, who claimed to have been approached with the chilling task of terminating Kelly's life. Stine alleged in his declaration that prison authorities had tasked him with either carrying out or aiding in the assassination of Kelly, prior to his transfer from an Arizona facility to FCI Butner, where Kelly is currently incarcerated. Stine further stated that they ended up in the same prison wing, prompting him to reveal the alleged plot to Kelly.
Stine is no novice to legal battles, having initiated over a hundred civil suits and petitions in federal court over two decades. Notably, he was convicted in 2015 for threatening to assault and murder a federal magistrate judge and an assistant U.S. attorney, stemming from letters penned from his cell.
Currently, no hearing date has been scheduled for the emergency motion. Consequently, Brindley is endeavoring to secure a presidential pardon from Donald Trump, disclosing last week to PEOPLE that he was in discussions with individuals close to the president. Though Kelly has no known connections to the president, he did reside in Trump Tower, Chicago, prior to his incarceration.
Brindley revealed to PEOPLE last week that his client had faced attacks in the past, his fears of future incidents exacerbated by his belief that prison officials might either fail to adequately safeguard Kelly or decline to do so. "He is in grave danger within federal custody," Brindley emphasized. "Keeping him imprisoned amidst such threats constitutes cruel and unusual punishment."
Bureau of Prisons spokespersons declined to comment on these allegations. However, PEOPLE obtained the government's response to Kelly's motion, filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Julien. Julien stated his belief that solitary confinement was imposed by prison officials as a protective measure for Kelly. He further emphasized that Kelly "is a serial pedophile whose criminal exploitation of children dates back to President Bill Clinton's first term—decades before his federal incarceration." Julien added, "Kelly has never acknowledged his decades-long sexual abuse of children, and likely never will."
Kelly is currently serving a 30-year sentence, convicted on multiple racketeering charges rooted in criminal conduct in the Eastern District of New York. These offenses encompassed sexual exploitation of children, forced labor, and violations of the Mann Act, involving the coercion and interstate transportation of women and girls for illegal sexual activity.
