R. Kelly was on suicide watch following his conviction on racketeering charges.
In the first court hearing since a Brooklyn federal jury found the R&B singer guilty, Kelly’s attorney Steve Greenberg said the U.S. Bureau of Prisons placed his client on suicide watch but that has since been lifted.
According to the Chicago Tribune, monitoring a recently convicted inmate is common practice in the federal prison system. Greenberg did not say whether Kelly had actually expressed a desire to harm himself.
Kelly appeared via video from a federal jail in Brooklyn during the hearing, but did not speak because no one could figure out how to unmute him.
Last month, the 54-year-old was convicted on all nine counts by a federal jury in New York, including racketeering, sex trafficking, and the sexual exploitation of a child. He faces anywhere from 10 years to life in prison when he’s sentenced on May 4.
Following the guilty verdict, he shared a message with his followers on Facebook, in which he said he was disappointed and proclaimed his innocence.
“To all my fans and supporters I love you all and thank you for all the support,” he wrote in the statement. “Today’s verdict was disappointing and I will continue to prove my innocence and fight for my freedom. #notguilty.”
Kelly is still facing charges of child pornography and obstruction in Chicago. The jury trial is slated to start Aug. 1, 2022 and is expected to last three to four weeks.
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