R. Kelly has been moved to the general inmate population. This move came after the 52-year-old singer expressed concerned about being hurt in general population because of his celebrity status or because he is accused of sexually assaulting minors.
There was some concern that Kelly might get beaten up in the general prison population like sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was while being held in jail before he committed suicide.
Kelly was moved from a restrictive unit at a high-rise jail in downtown Chicago.
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Kelly had been held in solitary confinement by no fault of his own since his July arrest and had been deprived of any of the privileges of other inmates, such as access to TV or candy from the jail commissary, outdoor exercise, or even daily showers, according to his lawyer. R. Kelly and his lawyer called the conditions as “cruel and unusual punishment.”
“But U.S. District Court in Chicago prosecutors disputed defense suggestions Kelly had been kept in the special housing unit, called the SHU, against his will and for no good reason, alleging Kelly himself had asked after his July arrest on federal charges to be kept from other inmates. From the SHU, Kelly also was able to purchase items from the jail store, ‘including snacks such as Snickers,’ the filing says,” KTLA reported.
R. Kelly currently faces 40 counts of state and federal sexual misconduct charges in Illinois, Minnesota, and New York ranging from child pornography to aggravated sexual assault. He pleaded not guilty in all the cases but the one in Minnesota. He will be arraigned later in Minnesota.
In other Kelly news, a friend who had previously posted bail for the Grammy Award winner now wants her money back.
Valencia Love put up $100,000 of her own money earlier this year to get Kelly out of jail. Love wants her money back, but a judge has denied the request.
R. Kelly posted bond with Love’s $100,000 after he was arrested in February on sexual assault and sexual abuse charges, CBS Chicago reported. Love paid the required 10 percent of Kelly’s $1 million bond to get him out of jail, CBS News reported.
After he made bail, federal prosecutors in Chicago and New York brought new charges against him.
Judge Lawrence Flood decided that Love signed a
