Aug 3 (Reuters) – Singer R. Kelly appeared in a New York Metropolis courtroom on Tuesday for a listening to, simply days earlier than his intercourse abuse trial is because of start.
The singer is accused of racketeering, sexual abuse and bribery costs. His trial is scheduled to start on Monday in federal courtroom in Brooklyn.
Prosecutors stated the 54-year-old Kelly, recognized for such hits as “I Imagine I Can Fly,” ran a legal scheme by which girls and underage ladies have been recruited to have sexual exercise with him.
They’ve alleged he bribed an Illinois official in 1994 to acquire false identification for singer Aaliyah, who was then 15 years previous, so they might get married. Aaliyah died in a aircraft crash within the Bahamas in 2001. Kelly faces separate legal costs in Illinois and Minnesota.
The Grammy Award-winning singer has pleaded not responsible to all legal costs in instances filed in New York, Illinois and Minnesota, and has been held with out bail for practically two years.
The allegations towards Kelly date again greater than twenty years and have been featured in a 2019 documentary, “Surviving R. Kelly.”
Reporting by Angela Moore; Writing by Cynthia Osterman
Modifying by Marguerita Choy
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