NEW YORK — R. Kelly has been placed on suicide watch at a federal prison in Brooklyn after serving a 30-year sentence for sex trafficking — and his lawyer says the disgraced R&B star has no business being there.
The 55-year-old has been in solitary confinement at the Metropolitan Detention Complex since he was sentenced on Wednesday for a 25-year scheme in which he sexually and mentally abused female fans and other young women.
Kelly’s attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, told the Daily News that he had mentally prepared himself for the steep prison sentence handed down by Brooklyn federal judge Anne Donnelly and that he was happy with the general population.
“He was completely fine.” He adapted well. Regular correctional officers understand this. They deal with him. This is high-level politics that is deplorable,” said Bonjean, who planned to file papers Friday seeking an explanation from the MDC.
“They acknowledge that its high-profile nature is one consideration.” Excuse me, where is the data that someone who is prominent is more likely to get hurt? “Other than the isolated incident with Jeffrey Epstein, I don’t know what their data is that would support something like that,” she said.
Kelly’s complaints are similar to those of another high-profile inmate at the Sunset Park waterfront jail: Ghislaine Maxwell. The former British socialite, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Tuesday, complained that she was repeatedly put on suicide watch without justification. A source said Friday morning that Maxwell, 60, remained on suicide watch.
Maxwell’s attorney, Bobby Sternheim, said MDC officials subjected Epstein’s top aide to an “unusually harsh and punitive” pretrial prison sentence. She said her client had spent almost two years alone on his suicide despite showing no signs of self-harm.
Maxwell’s lawyers have repeatedly complained that she was subjected to repeated invasive searches, monitored by prison staff on camera and that a flashlight was shown in her light overnight every 15 minutes, preventing her from sleeping.
“It is the greatest regret of my life that I ever met Jeffrey Epstein,” Maxwell told the court. “I had a lot of time to think, since I spent two years in solitary confinement.”
Beginning in the 1990s, Maxwell lured teenagers as young as 14 into Epstein’s orbit, preparing them for his repeated sexual abuse.
Epstein hanged himself at the now-closed Metropolitan Correctional Center, creating a huge embarrassment for the Bureau of Prisons and raising alarm over conditions in federal prisons.
Maxwell claimed that she was simply put on suicide watch to avoid a repeat of the Epstein scandal.
Both Kelly and Maxwell fared better in the general MDC population.
Maxwell taught English as a second language and tutored inmates to take the GED, according to court filings. One of her fellow remands, Tatiana Vegas, wrote to Judge Alison Nathan to say she found the multi-millionaire, who goes by her surname in prison, “genuine and kind” and said she offered to teach yoga.
“It took us all by surprise,” Vegas wrote.
Kelly connected with inmates through a Hindu spiritual discipline, The News reported in November. A comic pencil drawing included in court filings by his cellmate of two weeks, Brendan Hunt, showed the pair discussing music and doing yoga together. Hunt was sentenced to 19 months in prison last year for threatening to kill members of Congress.
News previously reported that Kelly also befriended accused N train shooter Frank James. Kelly often sings, charming inmates and prison staff alike.
Neither Maxwell nor Kelly will be at MDC for much longer. The former socialite asked to serve two decades at the Danbury Women’s Prison in Connecticut. The low-security federal prison inspired the popular Netflix series Orange Is the New Black. Kelly will go on trial in Chicago next month on charges of child pornography, obstruction of justice and sexual assault.
Copyright 2022 Tribune Content Agencies.