R. Kelly Overdose: Lawyers Claim Bureau Of Prisons Intentionally Gave Too Much Medication

CHICAGO — The lawyers for R. Kelly, who is currently serving a 30-year prison sentence for his 2021 racketeering and sex trafficking conviction, claim the singer was recently hospitalized after overdosing on medication. TMZ is reporting a new court filing allege Bureau of Prisons staff at the federal center in North Carolina he is being held at purposefully gave him too much medication, which in turn left him bedridden in a hospital.

The Grammy-winning, multiplatinum-selling R&B songwriter was convicted in 2021 in Brooklyn federal court of multiple charges, including racketeering and sex trafficking. The court filing says a solitary confinement staff member instructed Kelly to take the additional medication last Thursday night.

Kelly, 58, reportedly awakened feeling "faint and dizzy," and when he attempted to get up, he fell on the floor, "crawled to the door of the cell and lost consciousness," reports TMZ. He was taken to Duke University Hospital, where he was released after two days.

Prior to the alleged overdose, CBS Chicago reported Kelly's attorneys asked President Donald Trump on June 10 to help them get him freed from federal custody. They are accusing authorities of "plotting to steal his mail to pressure witnesses to testify against him, and later recruited a white supremacist to kill him in prison."

RELATED: R. Kelly's Attorneys Ask Trump To Set Him Free From Prison, Accuse Feds Of Plotting To Kill Him

In February, Kelly's racketeering and sex trafficking convictions, along with the 30-year prison sentence, were upheld by a federal appeals court. The ruling states Kelly "exploited his fame for over a quarter-century to sexually abuse girls and young women."

In 2021, the "I Believe I Can Fly" singer was convicted in a New York sex trafficking trial following decades of allegations of misconduct with young women and children. A jury of seven men and five women found Kelly guilty of all nine counts, including racketeering, on their second day of deliberations.

At the time, prosecutors alleged that an entourage of managers and aides helped Kelly meet girls, and then subsequently kept them obedient and quiet.

RELATED: R. Kelly Convicted In Sex Trafficking Trial, Chicago Case Pending

One year later, Kelly was convicted in a federal trial in Chicago on several charges, including child pornography (three counts) and enticement of minors (three counts). In 2023, Kelly, was sentenced by United States District Judge Harry D. Leinenweber to 20 years in federal prison, 19 of them concurrent with the 30-year sentence previously imposed in New York.