US crooner R Kelly celebrated a rare court victory against the feds when a New York ordered he be removed from suicide watch expeditiously.
R Kelly removed from suicide watch
Last week, the 55-year-old was sentenced to 30 years for multiple counts of sex trafficking and racketeering. At the time, it was feared the singer may fatally harm himself. So, he was kept on suicide watch.
However, Kelly complained in a lawsuit filed against federal prosecutors that committing suicide was far from his realm of thought and, much worse, the conditions he was kept in at the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Centre (MDC) were inhumane, to say the least.
The court’s decision, per TMZ, was guided by a clinical assessment that found no hints that Kelly was an immediate threat to himself.
The 55-year-old has since been transferred to another section of the detention centre, where he will serve a portion of his sentence until he is moved to Illinois, Chicago, where he is set to go on trial on federal child pornography and obstruction charges in August 2022.
Fake news: Kelly did not escape from prison
These developments surface around the same time fake news is spreading on social media, claiming the R&B veteran apparently escaped prison. While no formal statement has, as yet, been released by Brooklyn MDC, it can be confirmed that the 55-year-old is still behind bars, and his attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, is preparing an appeal submission, citing unfair use of the law in convicting the crooner of the RICO Act.
“We were prepared for it. We are now prepared to fight this appeal,” she said on the day of sentencing.
Here are some of the reactions to the fake news about Kelly’s supposed prison escape:
The state of New York: We sentence you to 30 years in prison
— Inoki (@_dwet) July 5, 2022
R. Kelly: pic.twitter.com/URUPn3OEO7
If R Kelly can escape prison then you can literally do anything you set your mind to
— Dolly The Dj (@JustMe_Dolly) July 6, 2022
R Kelly on his first day of arrival pic.twitter.com/OTu0w3HElf
— GroovyTony😈 (@KatlehoKhoele3) July 6, 2022
How R Kelly escaped 🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/iS8gEi25lU
— Its Morbin time (@_Itstonz) July 5, 2022
R Kelly escaped prison? Omo I thought prison break was unrealistic 😮
— BASITO (@itzbasito) July 6, 2022