Thursday, March 28, 2024

R. Kelly’s Associate Pleads Guilty in Brooklyn Bribery Case

R. Kelly

*An R. Kelly associate pleaded guilty Tuesday to trying to bribe a witness in the singer’s sexual assault case in Brooklyn. 

“Me and another person offered Jane Doe money for her to not go forward with her complaint or testimony against Robert Kelly,” Richard Arline Jr., 31, admitted during a virtual hearing in Brooklyn federal court, per Page Six. “I knew what I did was wrong.” 

We previously reported, three men connected to R. Kelly were charged last year in federal court for using threats and bribes to intimate several victims in the racketeering case against the singer.

The complaints listed Arline Jr., Donnell Russell and Michael Williams as defendants, according to a press release from the United States Attorney’s office in Brooklyn.

“The defendants are separately charged with engaging in multiple crimes that were intended to undermine and subvert the integrity of the criminal justice system and victimize the women who have come forward with serious allegations of criminal conduct against the defendant R. Kelly,” Acting United States Attorney Seth DuCharme said in the release.

READ MORE: Azriel Clary Says She Catches Major Heat from Black Folks Over R. Kelly [VIDEO]

“Efforts to illegally influence pending federal cases, whether through threats of violence, intimidation, damage to property, or payments to buy a potential witness’s silence, will not be tolerated,” DuCharme said.

An attorney for R. Kelly said his client “had nothing to do with any of these alleged acts by those charged.”

“He hasn’t attempted to intimidate anyone, or encouraged anyone else to do so. No involvement whatsoever,” attorney Steve Greenberg said via Twitter and in an email to CNN.

Arline Jr. is “a self-proclaimed longtime friend” of Kelly’s, and he was recorded via wiretap trying to bribe one victim with $500,000 if she dropped a lawsuit against the artist, according to the release.

Russell, 45, of Chicago, is “a self-described manager, advisor and friend of Kelly,” according to the release. He “threatened to reveal sexually explicit photographs” of an alleged “and to publicly reveal her sexual history if she did not withdraw her lawsuit against Kelly,” according to the release. 

Prosecutors said Williams set fire to an SUV belonging to the father of another alleged victim; 

Kelly is facing charges in New York including racketeering and sex trafficking He also faces federal charges of child pornography in Chicago, where he is jailed without bail. The disgraced artist has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges and is awaiting trial.

Arline faces up to 15 years in prison.

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