*Looks like R. Kelly is trying every trick in the book to get released from jail ASAP. He’s now claiming he’s at risk because he’s diabetic and has high cholesterol.
In the documents, obtained by Billboard and published on Friday, Kelly’s attorney, Steven Greenberg, alleges that the singer tested “1/10 of one point below diabetic.”
The lawyer pleads that this status, coupled with Kelly’s high blood pressure, cholesterol, and weight issues, puts him “at the very top of the high-risk category” for people likely to contract COVID-19.
With that in mind, Greenberg is asking U.S. Judge Ann Donnelly to release Kelly to protect his health, claiming that Kelly is not a flight risk.
If you’re keeping score, this will be Kelly’s third attempt to get out of lockdown. Eleven days before this motion, Greenberg made a plea to get Kelly released that was denied. Yet, as Complex notes, Greenberg claims that the Bureau of Prisons/BOP didn’t disclose the diabetes test results to Kelly for over a month and that no medical help has been given to Kelly to curb his other preexisting conditions. The lack of care, in addition to the spread of COVID-19 at the facility, leads Greenberg to believe that Kelly should be released immediately.
“The simple fact is that it appears that there is a serious spread within the BOP and this institution,” Greenberg said.
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Meanwhile, U.S. Attorney Richard P. Donoghue is not sounding very sympathetic. He simply says that Kelly doesn’t have any underlying conditions. As far as he’s concerned, Kelly is a flight risk, and a danger to the community. On top of that, Donoghue believes Kelly committed at least five serious crimes while out on bail for other offenses. Additionally, prosecutors make the point that it was “disingenuous” for Kelly to allege that he has “no means to go anywhere” since he received over $200,000 in royalty proceeds in just the first quarter of 2020.
“While the government recognizes the seriousness of COVID-19 and the increased risk to certain federal prisoners, a generalized risk alone does not justify releasing the entire BOP populations, much less a prisoner being held for racketeering charges involving crimes against specified victims and with a history of obstructing justice and violating his bail conditions by committing serious crimes,” Donoghue explained in previous motions.
Greenberg’s response is that Kelly will submit to wearing a GPS electronic monitoring device and adhere to restricted internet/cell phone guidelines.
“Mr. Kelly is presumed innocent, his case is defensible, and he does not have any criminal record,” Greenberg’s motion states.
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