R. Kelly overdosed on prescription medication given to him by prison staff last week, an incident that landed him in the hospital after losing consciousness while placed in solitary confinement, the disgraced singer’s lawyers said in legal filings.
Guards at a federal correctional facility in Butner, North Carolina, gave the “Ignition” singer an “overdose quantity” of sleep and anti-anxiety medications last Thursday, according to documents obtained by TheWrap. The incident happened days after his legal team filed an emergency motion for his release citing allegations that three Bureau of Prisons officials were plotting to have him killed by another inmate.
The filing also says Kelly was removed from a Durham hospital against medical advice. The Bureau of Prisons declined to comment on the pending litigation.
Kelly is serving a 30-year sentence for his 2022 conviction on racketeering and sex trafficking charges. The motion, submitted Tuesday by Kelly’s lawyer Beau B. Brindley in the Northern District of Illinois, claims that the Bureau of Prisons has taken “active steps” to harm the singer, including removing him from the hospital at gunpoint before he could undergo surgery for blood clots in his lungs.
“These are outright acts by prison officials to put in jeopardy the life of a man who has endeavored to expose crimes committed by these officials themselves,” the document states, suggesting Kelly had recently made public accusations of corruption and misconduct within the prison system.
“This morning, Kelly filed another diatribe directed at the government,” the feds stated in their official response, arguing that Kelly’s filings exceeded the scope outlined by the court. It did not address his claims of endangerment, but did emphasize procedural concerns such as jurisdiction.
The court is set to hold a hearing on Friday to address the ongoing disputes.
