R. Kelly has been transferred out of a Chicago prison to one in North Carolina.
AP reports the singer was moved to a medium-security prison, the federal correctional institution in Butner, North Carolina, on April 19. It’s unclear why R. Kelly was transported to a new location.
In February, a Chicago federal judge sentenced the 56-year-old Grammy Award-winning R&B singer to 20 years in prison for child pornography and enticement of minors for sex. He will serve all but one of those simultaneously with a separate 30-year sentence on racketeering and sex trafficking convictions in New York.
R Kelly won’t be eligible for release until he’s 80. He’s appealing both convictions. CNN reports, “Last week, attorneys for the former entertainer moved to appeal his federal racketeering conviction, calling the charge ‘absurdly remote’ and saying it aimed to prosecute him for ‘alleged misdeeds going back decades without pesky statutes of limitations obstacles.’”
The article also points out, “the federal statute under which R. Kelly was charged requires proof of an ongoing criminal enterprise.” R. Kelly’s legal team claim the prosecution didn’t show that there was a “collective of individuals who shared any common purpose other than to promote” R. Kelly’s music.
We’ll keep you updated as more details become available.