The inmate who allegedly attacked R. Kelly inside the singer’s cell last month has been moved to a different jail, federal prosecutors revealed in court documents filed Tuesday.
According to TMZ, federal prosecutors said the inmate who assaulted Kelly, 53, on August 25 at the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in Illinois was relocated to a facility in Michigan. Federal authorities described the incident as a one-time and isolated ordeal — meaning Kelly should not be released on bail while awaiting trial.
Federal prosecutors have described Kelly as a flight risk who poses a threat to the public.
In court documents, Kelly’s attacker identified himself as Jeremiah Farmer, 39. Farmer wrote that he assaulted the singer to shed light on government corruption. However, initial reports suggested Farmer assaulted Kelly because the detention facility was placed on lockdown a couple of times due to people protesting outside for Kelly’s release.
Kelly’s lawyer, Steve Greenberg, previously alleged that Farmer crept into Kelly’s cell as he slept and stomped on his head. He also claimed the inmate — who has “F**k the feds” tattooed on his face — had a pen and intended to stab the singer.
Reports indicated that a prison employee used pepper spray to stop the attack, and Farmer was subsequently placed in solitary confinement.
Farmer also wrote that before attacking Kelly, a mental health professional at MCC told him, “You don’t want to assault Kelly, if you did, you would have done it.” Farmer said that after some back and forth, he was told “go do it then” — sparking him to leave and assault Kelly despite being ordered to stop.
According to TMZ, federal prosecutors denied the conversation between the MCC doctor and Farmer ever occurred.
Farmer, a member of the Latin Kings, was convicted last year of a racketeering conspiracy related to the 1999 murders of Marion Lowry, 74, and Harvey Sieger, 67. He was initially charged with beating the men to death with a hammer at their auto business.
At some point, Farmer told police that he intends to confess to the double slaying as he wants to die via lethal injection, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Kelly has been jailed in Illinois since July 2019 for 26 federal charges which include child pornography, obstruction of justice, and sexual abuse of a minor. He is also facing 21 sex-related criminal charges in Cook County. The state charges reportedly stem from allegations dating back to 1998 and involve at least three underage girls.
Additionally, Kelly is facing multiple federal charges in New York for allegedly infecting a woman and minor girl with herpes, racketeering, and sex trafficking that reportedly crossed state lines.
In August 2019, authorities in Minnesota charged Kelly with two counts of prostitution with a person under 18 in connection with an alleged 2001 incident.
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[Featured image: Jeremiah Farmer/Lake County Sheriff’s Department; R. Kelly/Cook County Sheriff’s Office]
