Embattled R&B singer, R. Kelly was denied bail on Wednesday in his New York City sex-abuse case after a Brooklyn judge agreed with prosecutors that freeing him from jail would create a risk of him fleeing or tampering with witnesses.
U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly who set May 18, 2020 trial date, denied the singer’s lawyers’ motion asking to release him on bond and allow home detention while the trial continues. The lawyers argued that even if Kelly was out of jail he does not have the funds to leave the country.
New legal documents obtained by TMZ show that prosecutors believe the singer is still deemed a flight risk following his initial plans
to travel to Dubai with his two girlfriends earlier this year after he was released on bail in Illinois.
Prosecutors also refute claims that Kelly won’t tamper with or intimidate witnesses, saying the singer “has a history of coercing women to write letters containing false and embarrassing allegations” so he can use them as blackmail.
Despite reports that he is broke, prosecutors also claimed that Kelly still receives hundreds of thousands of dollars in royalties for his music. The government alleges that he’s redirecting royalties to the bank account of a childhood friend, but could easily redirect the money to himself.
A Chicago judge has set a trial date for April 27, 2020, in the singer’s federal case where he is accused of child pornography and obstruction of justice.
