R. Kelly’s lawyer said he will attempt to pursue a pardon from President Donald Trump as the disgraced rapper serves his 30-year prison sentence.
Kelly’s attorney, Beau B. Brindley, said in a statement to USA TODAY on June 12 that the “Ignition” hitmaker’s legal team is in talks with unnamed members of Trump’s team. The 58-year-old singer, born Robert Kelly, has been serving a prison sentence for racketeering and sex trafficking since 2022.
Brindley said in his statement that Kelly’s legal team believes Trump is the “only person with the courage and the power to fight corruption in the prosecution of public figures and stomp it out.”
“The president understands what it’s like to be victimized by Obama and Biden era prosecution teams’ intent on destroying public figures. He experienced that himself,” Brindley continued, comparing the disgraced singer-songwriter to Trump.
“R. Kelly is now living with the consequences of the same kind of shameful and criminal prosecutorial tactics,” the lawyer said.
R. Kelly’s lawyers: ‘Our client fears that he might be killed’
“President Trump has been fighting against this kind of criminal weaponization of the DOJ against public figures since he took office,” Brindley added. “And we will ask him to now stand up with us as we advance his fight and as our client fears that he might be killed to cover up the corruption that we seek to expose.”
In his statement, Brindley said the need for a pardon from Trump “becomes more imminent by the day,” claiming that “immediately after our motion became public, Robert was thrown into solitary confinement” and he “cannot make phone calls to his family” nor does he have “access to commissary.”
“He has spiders crawling over him while he tries to sleep,” Kelly’s lawyer claims. “He has not been able to eat in two days because he’s afraid the chow hall food could be poisoned. And they refuse to give him anything else.”R. Kelly’s lawyers say prison officials tried to plot his murder, requests release
R. Kelly’s lawyers say prison officials tried to plot his murder, requests release
News of the pardon attempt comes a day after lawyers for the “I Believe I Can Fly” singer said on June 11 that Kelly should be moved from federal prison to home detention after an alleged murder-for-hire plot involving prison officials and an inmate.
“Federal officers have solicited the murder of R. Kelly because he intends to expose the corruption underlying his federal prosecutions. We have filed our motion to make sure that they fail,” Brindley wrote in a statement to USA TODAY June 11.
“The only thing that can protect Mr. Kelly behind the prison walls now is the fact that now the world is watching,” Brindley added. “And we will call on the courts and President Trump to help put an end to the corruption that now threatens Mr. Kelly’s life.”
The Bureau of Prisons declined to comment on “pending litigation or matters that are the subject of legal proceedings.”
R. Kelly pardon attempt comes after Trump pardoned Chrisleys, NBA YoungBoy
The pardon attempt comes just weeks after a pair of star-studded pardons from Trump.
On May 27, Trump announced he was pardoning reality TV couple Todd and Julie Chrisley of “Chrisley Knows Best” fame. The pair were serving respective sentences for bank fraud. The Chrisleys have since been released and returned to their homes.
On May 28, Trump also pardoned Louisiana-born rapper NBA YoungBoy, whose real name is Kentrell Gaulden, who was serving a 23-month sentence for federal gun charges.
Kelly is serving his sentence in North Carolina after his 2021 and 2022 convictions for racketeering, sex trafficking, child pornography and enticement.
He was sentenced to 30 years in prison in a Brooklyn federal court in 2022 and 20 years in a Chicago federal court in 2023, to be served concurrently. One year from the latter sentence is set to be served consecutively.
