R. Kelly has been left shaken since an inmate attacked him in his cell late last month, according to one of the jailed singer’s lawyers.
Attorney Nicole Blank Becker told the Chicago Sun-Times that Kelly, 53, is unable to sleep and is afraid to leave his cell since the August 25 incident at the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in Illinois. Becker said Kelly was lying in bed with a blanket over his face and wearing ear pods when the assault occurred.
“Fear and terror have left him petrified and paranoid,” she remarked. “He’s even afraid to get his hair cut.”
In court documents, Kelly’s attacker identified himself as Jeremiah Farmer, 39. 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 victims to death with a hammer at their auto business.
Farmer wrote that he assaulted Kelly to shed light on government corruption. However, initial reports suggested Farmer attacked Kelly because the detention facility was placed on lockdown a couple of times due to people protesting outside for the singer’s release.
Kelly’s other lawyer, Steve Greenberg, 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.
Becker told the Sun-Times that a corrections officer pepper-sprayed Farmer and Kelly to stop the fight. Federal prosecutors said last week that Farmer was relocated to a facility in Michigan.
Becker also said that prison officials have not yet returned Kelly’s commissary-purchased mp3 podcast recorder. She said the cell Kelly was moved to was previously occupied by Farmer — making the singer fearful that friends of the former MCC inmate will stage a second attack.
According to the attorney, Kelly, who is unable to read and write, has his cellmate read his fanmail.
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: R. Kelly/Cook County Sheriff’s Office]
