R Kelly: Judge denies singer’s request to be released from prison due to coronavirus pandemic

Kelly awaiting trial in Chicago

R Kelly during a court hearing on 26 June 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. ( E Jason Wambsgans-Pool/Getty Images)

R Kelly‘s request to be released from custody due to the coronavirus pandemic has been denied.

US District Judge Ann Donnelly turned down the motion on Tuesday.

“The defendant is currently in custody because of the risks that he will flee or attempt to obstruct, threaten or intimidate prospective witnesses,” the judge wrote in part of her denial.

“The defendant has not explained how those risks have changed.”

Kelly is currently held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, a federal facility in Chicago, while awaiting trial.

He’s facing sexual misconduct charges in New York, Minnesota, and Illinois. Kelly has maintained his innocence and denied the allegations against him.

His legal team filed a motion for a bail hearing and release on behalf of Kelly on 26 March, citing the coronavirus pandemic as a change of circumstances that would justify his release.

The lawyers suggested Kelly could be placed on home confinement and monitored electronically but the government opposed the motion nonetheless.

“While I am sympathetic to the defendant’s understandable anxiety about Covid-19, he has not established compelling reasons warranting his release,” Donnelly wrote in Tuesday’s denial.

Kelly’s trial has been scheduled for October.

The Independent has contacted Kelly’s attorney for comment.