Earlier in the day R. Kelly had collapsed at the federal correctional facility in Butner, North Carolina and was taken to Duke University Hospital. It was only on June 10, when Kelly presented with extreme lightheadedness and near syncope that precipitated his fall, that an abnormality was recognized. He was loaded onto a gurney and transported by ambulance to the emergency room. He lived there for two days.
Regardless of the tattoos, what Kelly’s legal team wants to highlight is that the context for his collapse is troubling. They argue that a cabal of three Bureau of Prisons officials conspired. Their intent was for him to get killed by a fellow inmate. This allegation surfaced after Kelly reportedly overheard a prison officer during his ambulance ride say, “This is going to open a whole new can of worms.”
On the morning of June 13, Kelly nearly passed out shortly after waking up in his hospital room. All of a sudden, he began experiencing black spots in his vision. He tried to stand but fell back down, causing medical personnel to swoop in. Prior to this abuse, staff at the prison administered him medication on June 10. They gave some explicit guidance on how to develop and deploy it.
Kelly’s solitary confinement started on the same day he was prescribed the medication. His lawyers claim that this abusive treatment was the cause of his severe physical deterioration, which ultimately resulted in his collapse just days later. The 56-year-old Grammy winner, who has been jailed in Illinois, was serving a 30-year sentence after being convicted in 2021 on racketeering and sex-trafficking charges. In 2022, he was additionally sentenced to 20 years for producing child sexual abuse imagery and enticing minors. This new sentence will bring concurrency with his current term.
Despite the severity of his charges, Kelly has repeatedly refused to take responsibility for his actions throughout the years. It is precisely this neglect of power that his lawyers have been fighting for, long before the recent violence against inmates.
The continuing crisis raises alarming questions about the treatment of individuals in federal custody. That’s particularly the case for high-profile public figures such as Ms. Kelly. Investigators looking into the alleged conspiracy are still active. The ripple effects of this case could go well beyond bars.