R. Kelly was reportedly rushed to Duke University Hospital on June 13 after suffering a near-fatal overdose while in federal prison.
The 58-year-old singer is currently serving a 30-year sentence in North Carolina for sex trafficking and racketeering. His attorney, Beau Brindley, claims the overdose was not an accident, but a deliberate attempt on Kelly’s life.
According to a new legal filing, Kelly was placed in isolation on June 10 with his anxiety medication. But prison staff allegedly gave him an additional dose that caused him to lose consciousness three days later. Brindley said the dosage was high enough to kill him. “This was no mistake. It was a dose that jeopardized his life and nearly ended it,” the attorney stated.
After spending two days under medical observation at Duke University Hospital, Kelly was taken back to his cell. Brindley has since filed an emergency motion for his early release, citing serious safety concerns and what he describes as a murder plot inside the prison system.
This is the third attempt to get Kelly released from prison. His legal team is also pursuing clemency from former President Donald Trump. “We believe that President Trump is the only person with the courage to help us,” Brindley said. Although Kelly has no personal ties to Trump, his lawyers say discussions have been underway with people close to the former president since the emergency motion was filed.
The emergency court documents include a sworn declaration from inmate Mikeal Glenn Stine, who alleges he was offered freedom by three Bureau of Prisons officials in exchange for killing Kelly. Stine, who claims to be a member of the Aryan Brotherhood and says he has terminal cancer, revealed that he was transferred to the same prison and unit as Kelly for this purpose.
Stine told Kelly about the plot after deciding not to go through with it, and now claims he wants to expose the attempted setup. If true, the allegations are explosive, and life-threatening.
Brindley says Kelly is now being held in solitary confinement, denied contact with his family, without access to commissary, and living in conditions he describes as inhumane. “He has spiders crawling over him while he tries to sleep,” the lawyer said. Kelly is now reportedly too scared to eat prison food for fear it might be poisoned.
With mounting concerns over his safety, Kelly’s team is pushing hard for presidential intervention. Last month, Trump said he would consider pardoning Diddy, who is also facing serious federal charges, stating, “If I think someone was mistreated it wouldn’t matter whether they like me or don’t.”
Brindley closed with a warning: “He is not safe in federal custody. And to keep him in prison while he is under threat like this is cruel and unusual punishment.”
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