*A former manager of R. Kelly has been sentenced to one year in prison for his role in stalking and harassing alleged victims of the singer.
Donnell Russell, 47, will reportedly spend a year in prison for calling in an active-shooter threat at the premiere of the Lifetime documentary “Surviving R. Kelly,” CBS News reports. The sentence will run concurrently with a 20-month term Russell received for threatening one of Kelly’s victims. A $10,000 fine will also be imposed on Russell.
Russell reportedly told a federal judge during sentencing in a Manhattan courtroom on Monday that he “made bad judgments” while serving as Kelly’s manager. “I’m not a horrible person,” he said.
Kelly is currently serving a 30-year prison sentence on charges of racketeering and sex trafficking. He faces similar charges in Chicago.
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R. Kelly’s ex-manager Donnell Russell gets year in prison for calling in theater threat https://t.co/sU2DzQhnZA pic.twitter.com/h4B5TzIwJo
— New York Post (@nypost) December 19, 2022
Russell pleaded guilty in July to “ interstate stalking for his participation in a scheme to harass, intimidate, and cause substantial emotional distress to Jane Doe, a victim in Kelly’s racketeering case, per a statement from U.S. Attorney’s Office – Eastern District of New York.
“Russell used threats, harassment and intimidation in a deliberate effort to silence one of R. Kelly’s victims and prevent her voice from being heard,” stated Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. “When his initial effort failed, he continued his vile campaign by sending threatening messages to Jane Doe and her mother, and publishing explicit photos of the victim on the internet before and after Kelly was indicted. As this prosecution makes clear, the defendant’s conduct was not only reprehensible, but it was also criminal and will not be tolerated.”
According to prosecutors, Russell attempted to derail the Lifetime screening in 2018 by posing as a lawyer and sending a cease-and-desist letter to the network. When Lifetime continued with the planned screening, Russell allegedly made a shooter threat during the event on Dec. 4 at New York City’s NeueHouse Madison Square. The screening was ultimately called off.
Russell will reportedly turn himself in early next year and will serve both sentences simultaneously.
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