June 11, 2025 — Attorneys for R&B singer R. Kelly have filed an emergency motion requesting his immediate release from federal custody, citing threats to his life and alleged misconduct by prison officials.
The motion, submitted Tuesday and reviewed by Variety, alleges that officials at the federal penitentiary in North Carolina—where Kelly is serving a 30-year sentence—solicited another inmate to murder him. Kelly’s legal team is asking that he be placed on temporary home detention for his safety.
The filing includes a sworn declaration from Mikeal Glenn Stine, a terminally ill inmate and self-identified leader of the Aryan Brotherhood. Stine claims prison officials offered him early release in exchange for killing Kelly. He says they justified the plot by alleging that Kelly and his attorneys were planning to expose sensitive information, and that prison officials had violated attorney-client privilege by intercepting private communications.
Stine also claims he was assured that, if he carried out the murder, any evidence would be mishandled and he would not face conviction. Though initially prepared to follow through, Stine says he changed his mind and instead warned Kelly of the plan. He alleges that officials later directed another Aryan Brotherhood member to kill both him and Kelly.
Kelly’s attorneys argue that their client remains in danger, as he is still housed among members of the Aryan Brotherhood. “The threat to Mr. Kelly’s life continues each day that no action is taken,” the motion states. “More A.B. members are accumulating at his facility. More than one has already been approached about carrying out his murder.”
Attorney Beau B. Brindley, representing Kelly, is urging the court to grant a temporary furlough to allow for home detention. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago declined to comment.
R. Kelly, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, was convicted in September 2021 on nine counts related to sex trafficking and racketeering, including violations of the Mann Act. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison in June 2022. In a separate case in February 2023, he received an additional 20-year sentence for child sex crimes, with all but one year set to run concurrently.
In February 2025, an appeals court upheld both the convictions and his 30-year sentence, rejecting claims that evidence was insufficient and that the trial judge made improper rulings.
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