CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) RESOURCE CENTER Read More
Add To Favorites

R. Kelly's attorneys allege federal prison officials 'allowed' beating by Hammond gang member

Times - 10/19/2020

Oct. 19--Sarah Reese

CHICAGO -- Attorneys for R. Kelly continued to push for their client's release Friday, alleging federal prison officials may have "encouraged" or "allowed" a Hammond gang member to beat the jailed R&B singer in his Chicago cell.

Kelly's attorneys are seeking his release ahead of his trial and want to question Latin Kings member Jeremiah Farmer, 39, under oath, U.S. District Court records show.

Kelly is being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago.

Farmer is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 27 in U.S. District Court in Hammond for killing 74-year-old Marion Lowry and 66-year-old Harvey Siegers on June 25, 1999, at Calumet Auto Rebuilders, 5105 Calumet Ave., where they worked. Last year, a jury convicted him of the murders.

Farmer has been moved to a federal prison in Michigan since the attack on Kelly, court records show.

"No one at the MCC raised a finger to stop Mr. Farmer from attacking Mr. Kelly, until after Mr. Farmer was well into beating," Kelly's attorneys wrote. "Mr. Farmer roamed a great distance within the MCC before carrying out that act, without any opposition."

Kelly suffered "physical and psychological injuries" as a result of the attack, attorneys said.

Farmer revealed he was the person who attacked Kelly in a pro se court filing last month.

Farmer was able to slip away from an employee at the center, enter a cell and repeatedly hit Kelly in the head, according to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons report attached to Farmer's filing. A security officer used pepper spray to stop the attack.

Kelly, 53, faces several dozen counts of state and federal sexual misconduct charges in Illinois, Minnesota and New York, from sexual assault to heading a racketeering scheme aimed at supplying him with girls. The Grammy Award-winning singer has denied ever abusing anyone.

Kelly's attorneys also say they've been unable to meet with him and prepare for trial because of "lockdown-like conditions" at the Metropolitan Correctional Center.

"Mr. Kelly's inability to prepare for trial has been exacerbated by his inability to read," the attorneys said.

Federal prosecutors responded to Kelly's request for pretrial release, saying evidence in the case shows he poses a danger to the community.

Besides sexual abuse of girls as young as 13, Kelly is accused of attempting to obstruct justice, federal prosecutors said.

"Electronic monitoring does nothing about the obstruction of justice. It does nothing to prevent witness tampering," according to a filing by the U.S. attorney's office. "Defendant could easily obstruct justice from the comfort of his own home even if he has an ankle bracelet, but not so from the MCC where his communications will be monitored."

Be the first to know

Get local news delivered to your inbox!

___

(c)2020 The Times (Munster, Ind.)

Visit The Times (Munster, Ind.) at www.nwitimes.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.