A filing from R. Kelly’s legal team alleges the former R&B star was diagnosed with blood clots in his legs and lungs, but was removed from the hospital.
WASHINGTON — Attorneys for R. Kelly are alleging the singer suffered an overdose in prison last week and was removed from a hospital against medical advice, according to court filings obtained by the Chicago Sun Times and USA Today.
The 58-year-old is currently serving a 30 year federal prison sentence for racketeering and sex trafficking at the Federal Correctional Institution in Butner, North Carolina.
His legal team claimed in a filing he was placed in solitary confinement on June 10, days after they filed an emergency motion for his release to home detention, alleging that prison officials were plotting to have him murdered by another inmate.
Federal prosecutors responded to the claims of a murder plot, calling them “fanciful” and “theatrical.”
Kelly’s attorneys claimed that doctors determined he was given an “overdose quantity” of his prescribed anxiety and sleep medicine by prison staff on June 12. The following morning, Kelly reportedly became dizzy, saw black spots in his vision, collapsed and lost consciousness in his cell.
He was then transported to Duke University Hospital in Durham, where he stayed for two days, the filings claimed.
Kelly’s legal team said he was diagnosed with blood clots in his legs and lungs and was scheduled to have surgery and stay in the hospital for two weeks, but armed officers entered the hospital and removed him prematurely and against doctor recommendations.
Kelly’s “life is in jeopardy right now because the Bureau of Prisons denied him necessary surgery to clear clots from his lungs,” lawyers in the filing said. “He could die from this condition, and they are letting it happen.”
As part of their response, federal prosecutors accused Kelly of being a “master manipulator.”
Earlier this year, a federal appeals court upheld Kelly’s racketeering and sex trafficking convictions, along with the 30-year prison sentence.