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R. Kelly appeared in a Brooklyn federal court in person for the first time ahead of his trial on July 8. The 54-year-old stood beside his new legal team, Deveraux Cannick and Nicole Blank Becker, as they asked that he be released on bail yet again, which Judge Ann Donnelly denied, Page Six reported. Judge Donnelly then ruled that Kelly’s trial will begin on August 18, 2021, giving him the shamed singer a little over a month for he and his new lawyers to go over his case.
R. Kelly was indicted in July 2019, after being arrested by Homeland Security agents and New York Police Department public safety officers in Chicago. In New York, he is charged with federal child pornography, kidnapping, obstruction of justice and racketeering charges according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. He’s accused of having his entourage assist him in preying on underage girls and arranging for them to travel across state lines to engage in illegal sexual activity which violates the Mann Act. He is charged with four counts of violating the Mann Act for not only allegedly transporting the underage girls across state lines but also for being accused of exposing an underaged girl to infectious venereal disease without her knowledge.
In Chicago, the “Be Happy” singer is facing charges of child pornography and obstruction of justice. He’s accused of conspiring with two of his team members to pay off witnesses and victims to change their statements during his 2008 child pornography trial. He is also charged with “one count of conspiracy to receive child pornography, two counts of receiving child pornography, four counts of producing child pornography and five counts of enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office Northern District of Illinois shared.
These charges stem from over 20 years of allegations of sex crimes against underaged girls and women.
