Springfield, Illinois / New York – June 20, 2025
A federal judge has denied the emergency motion filed by Grammy-winning singer Robert “R. Kelly” Kelly seeking temporary release from prison. The application was turned down on jurisdictional grounds despite grave allegations of threats to his life.
Judge Martha M. Pacold ruled that she lacked the authority to grant furlough or home confinement, citing that Kelly’s incarceration in Butner, North Carolina places him outside her judicial district
Kelly's Claims of Danger, Paranoid Fears, and Hospitalization
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Kelly’s legal team, led by attorney Beau Brindley, asserted that prison officials in North Carolina conspired with Aryan Brotherhood inmates to orchestrate a murder-for-hire plot against the singer
They also allege that following the filing of the motion, Kelly was placed in solitary confinement and administered an overdose of anxiety medication, leading to collapse and emergency hospitalization at Duke University Hospital on June 13, where blood clots were discovered in his lungs and legs
Brindley asserted: “Mr. Kelly remains in prison with blood clots in his lungs – this threatens his life every minute that he is denied the surgical intervention…”
Government Pushback and Judicial Conclusion
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Prosecutors dismissed Kelly’s allegations as “fanciful conspiracy,” noting a lack of compelling evidence.
Judge Pacold emphasized that no statutory provision allowed her to grant immediate release in such circumstances, stating: “Jurisdictional limitations must be respected even where… the circumstances are extraordinary.”