Latest news with #MarthaPacold
Washington Post
20-06-2025
- Washington Post
R. Kelly claims prison officials plotted to kill him. Judge denies his release
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — A judge has denied singer R. Kelly 's request to be freed from prison, saying she lacks jurisdiction to consider the convicted sex offender's allegations that federal prison officials plotted to murder him . U.S. District Judge Martha M. Pacold canceled Friday's scheduled arguments in Chicago, and instead issued a five-page ruling denying his emergency request to serve his time on home detention during a temporary furlough.
The Independent
20-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
R. Kelly claims prison officials plotted to kill him. Judge denies his release
A judge has denied singer R. Kelly 's request to be freed from prison, saying she lacks jurisdiction to consider the convicted sex offender's allegations that federal prison officials plotted to murder him. U.S. District Judge Martha M. Pacold canceled Friday's scheduled arguments in Chicago, and instead issued a five-page ruling denying his emergency request to serve his time on home detention during a temporary furlough. Born Robert Sylvester Kelly, the 58-year-old Grammy-winning R&B singer is serving sentences at a prison in Butner, North Carolina, for child sex crimes and racketeering. Pacold noted that federal courts have only limited power in such cases, and one by one she examined and rejected various ways Kelly's request could be considered. 'Jurisdictional limitations must be respected even where, as here, a litigant claims that the circumstances are extraordinary,' Pacold wrote. "Kelly has not identified (nor is the court aware of) any statute or rule that authorizes the court to exercise jurisdiction. Thus, the court cannot award relief in this case.' Kelly claimed in a series of filings this month that prison officials solicited white supremacist leaders to kill him, to halt the disclosure of information damaging to prison officials. Kelly's attorney says he was then moved to solitary confinement and purposely given an overdose of medication, which required hospitalization and surgery for blood clots. Pacold noted that Kelly offers no evidence to back up his claims. Government lawyers suggested Kelly had spun a 'fanciful conspiracy.' Known for such hits as 'I Believe I Can Fly,' Kelly was found guilty in Chicago in 2022 of three charges of producing child sexual abuse images and three charges of enticement of minors for sex. In New York in 2021, he was found guilty of racketeering and sex trafficking. He is serving most of his 20-year Chicago sentence and 30-year New York sentence simultaneously. His appeals have been unsuccessful, including to the U.S. Supreme Court. Kelly has also sought President Donald Trump's help.
Associated Press
20-06-2025
- Associated Press
R. Kelly claims prison officials plotted to kill him. Judge denies his release
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — A judge has denied singer R. Kelly 's request to be freed from prison, saying she lacks jurisdiction to consider the convicted sex offender's allegations that federal prison officials plotted to murder him. U.S. District Judge Martha M. Pacold canceled Friday's scheduled arguments in Chicago, and instead issued a five-page ruling denying his emergency request to serve his time on home detention during a temporary furlough. Born Robert Sylvester Kelly, the 58-year-old Grammy-winning R&B singer is serving sentences at a prison in Butner, North Carolina, for child sex crimes and racketeering. Pacold noted that federal courts have only limited power in such cases, and one by one she examined and rejected various ways Kelly's request could be considered. 'Jurisdictional limitations must be respected even where, as here, a litigant claims that the circumstances are extraordinary,' Pacold wrote. 'Kelly has not identified (nor is the court aware of) any statute or rule that authorizes the court to exercise jurisdiction. Thus, the court cannot award relief in this case.' Kelly claimed in a series of filings this month that prison officials solicited white supremacist leaders to kill him, to halt the disclosure of information damaging to prison officials. Kelly's attorney says he was then moved to solitary confinement and purposely given an overdose of medication, which required hospitalization and surgery for blood clots. Pacold noted that Kelly offers no evidence to back up his claims. Government lawyers suggested Kelly had spun a 'fanciful conspiracy.' Known for such hits as 'I Believe I Can Fly,' Kelly was found guilty in Chicago in 2022 of three charges of producing child sexual abuse images and three charges of enticement of minors for sex. In New York in 2021, he was found guilty of racketeering and sex trafficking. He is serving most of his 20-year Chicago sentence and 30-year New York sentence simultaneously. His appeals have been unsuccessful, including to the U.S. Supreme Court. Kelly has also sought President Donald Trump's help.
CBS News
19-06-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Judge denies R. Kelly's request to be placed on home detention, amid claims of prison murder plot
A federal judge in Chicago on Thursday denied singer R. Kelly's bid to be released to home detention, ruling that she does not have the jurisdiction to rule on his attorneys' claims that federal authorities are plotting to kill him in prison. Earlier this month, Kelly's attorneys filed an emergency motion seeking his immediate release to home detention, claiming his life is in danger as he serves a 30-year prison sentence for various sex crimes. The motion claims Kelly's former cellmate at the federal lockup in Chicago conspired with prison officials to steal mail between him and his attorneys, and turn it over to prosecutors before his trial on child pornography charges, in order to pit Kelly's former girlfriend against him. Kelly's attorneys also claimed prison officials recruited a fellow prison inmate, who is a member of the Aryan Brotherhood, to kill Kelly in prison in North Carolina to prevent him from exposing the plot to steal his mail and turn witnesses against him. In addition to their motion asking a judge to place him on home confinement, Kelly's attorneys also made a public plea to President Trump to set him free. The federal judge now overseeing Kelly's criminal case in Chicago originally set a hearing for Friday, but on Thursday denied his motion, finding she does not have jurisdiciton to rule on his claims that the feds are plotting to kill him. U.S. District Judge Martha Pacold noted that, since he has already been convicted and sentenced, she has limited jurisdiciton over his case, essentially only if he is challenging his conviction or sentence. "Kelly is currently housed at FCI Butner, which is located in Butner, North Carolina—outside this judicial district," Pacold wrote. "Kelly has not demonstrated a legal basis for this court's jurisdiction. Accordingly, his emergency motion … is denied." In their formal response to Kelly's motion in court, federal prosecutors have called Kelly's claims of a plot to kill him "repugnant to the sentence that this court imposed for deply disturbing offenses." "Kelly refuses to accept responsibility for years of sexually abusing children and is using this Court's docket merely to promote himself despite there being no legal basis to be before this Court," prosecutors wrote earlier this week. Kelly's attorneys also have claimed that, since making his original emergency motion for release, he was given a life-threatening overdose of his medication by prison officials, and later removed from a hospital against his doctors' advice. Kelly, 58, was convicted in 2022 in Chicago of child pornography charges, accused of making videos of himself sexually abusing three teenage girls, including his 14-year-old goddaughter. Meantime, a federal jury in New York convicted Kelly of racketeering and sex trafficking charges in 2021, finding him guilty of running a criminal enterprise to sexually exploit young women and children. Federal appeals courts have upheld both convictions. Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison in the New York case, and most of his 20-year sentence in the Chicago case is running concurrently to that prison term. The singer is serving his prison sentence at a medium-security federal correctional center in Butner, North Carolina, and is expected to be released on Dec. 21, 2045, when he would be nearly 79 years old.
CBS News
19-06-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Judge denies R. Kelly's request to be placed on home detention, citing lack of jurisdiction
A federal judge in Chicago on Thursday denied singer R. Kelly's bid to be released to home detention, ruling that she does not have the jurisdiction to rule on his attorneys' claims that federal authorities are plotting to kill him in prison. Earlier this month, Kelly's attorneys filed an emergency motion seeking his immediate release to home detention, claiming his life is in danger as he serves a 30-year prison sentence for various sex crimes. The motion claims Kelly's former cellmate at the federal lockup in Chicago conspired with prison officials to steal mail between him and his attorneys, and turn it over to prosecutors before his trial on child pornography charges, in order to pit Kelly's former girlfriend against him. Kelly's attorneys also claimed prison officials recruited a fellow prison inmate, who is a member of the Aryan Brotherhood, to kill Kelly in prison in North Carolina to prevent him from exposing the plot to steal his mail and turn witnesses against him. In addition to their motion asking a judge to place him on home confinement, Kelly's attorneys also made a public plea to President Trump to set him free. The federal judge now overseeing Kelly's criminal case in Chicago originally set a hearing for Friday, but on Thursday denied his motion, finding she does not have jurisdiciton to rule on his claims that the feds are plotting to kill him. U.S. District Judge Martha Pacold noted that, since he has already been convicted and sentenced, she has limited jurisdiciton over his case, essentially only if he is challenging his conviction or sentence. "Kelly is currently housed at FCI Butner, which is located in Butner, North Carolina—outside this judicial district," Pacold wrote. "Kelly has not demonstrated a legal basis for this court's jurisdiction. Accordingly, his emergency motion … is denied." In their formal response to Kelly's motion in court, federal prosecutors have called Kelly's claims of a plot to kill him "repugnant to the sentence that this court imposed for deply disturbing offenses." "Kelly refuses to accept responsibility for years of sexually abusing children and is using this Court's docket merely to promote himself despite there being no legal basis to be before this Court," prosecutors wrote earlier this week. Kelly's attorneys also have claimed that, since making his original emergency motion for release, he was given a life-threatening overdose of his medication by prison officials, and later removed from a hospital against his doctors' advice. Kelly, 58, was convicted in 2022 in Chicago of child pornography charges, accused of making videos of himself sexually abusing three teenage girls, including his 14-year-old goddaughter. Meantime, a federal jury in New York convicted Kelly of racketeering and sex trafficking charges in 2021, finding him guilty of running a criminal enterprise to sexually exploit young women and children. Federal appeals courts have upheld both convictions. Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison in the New York case, and most of his 20-year sentence in the Chicago case is running concurrently to that prison term. The singer is serving his prison sentence at a medium-security federal correctional center in Butner, North Carolina, and is expected to be released on Dec. 21, 2045, when he would be nearly 79 years old.
