R. Kellyhas pleaded not guilty to a recent federal charge accusing him of bribing an Illinois government employee.
On Wednesday, the singer and his attorney appeared in New York City courtroom remotely from Chicago, where he remains incarcerated, and entered a not guilty plea on the recent racketeering charge brought forward earlier this month, according tomultipleoutlets.
Kelly allegedly had planned to use the fake ID to obtain a marriage license and show that Aaliyah was actually 18 years old and not 15, according to the indictment. Kelly was 27 at the time.
The following day, Kelly married the late songstress in a secret ceremony with allegedly falsified paperwork. Their marriage was later annulled in 1995 with the help of Aaliyah’s family.
Prince Williams/WireImage; Dave Allocca/DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty
Details surrounding Kelly and Aaliyah’s relationship were explored on the Lifetime documentarySurviving R. Kelly. The series also shed light on the several other sexual misconduct allegations made against him
In the documentary’s first episode former backup singer Jovante Cunningham, who met Kelly at age 14, gives an emotional interview and claims she directly witnessed his sexual encounters with underaged girls in the ’90s, including Aaliyah.
During her interview, Cunningham breaks down recalling when she claims to have discovered that Kelly and Aaliyah had a sexual relationship.
“We were out on the road with Aaliyah,” she says. “On a tour bus, there really aren’t many confined spaces. When you get on the bus there are bunks and so these bunks have little curtains you can pull at night if you don’t want anybody to see you sleeping.”
“So it just so happened we were all laying in our bunks and the curtains are open, everybody’s communicating, laughing,” Cunningham continues. “When the [room] door flew open on the bus. Robert was having sex with Aaliyah.”
Aaliyah.Tim Mosenfelder/ImageDirect/Getty
Kelly and Aaliyah never addressed the reports about the nature of their relationship, but in the documentary, his former personal assistant, Demetrius Smith, claims he was present at the wedding and admits to obtaining false documents for underaged Aaliyah.
“I was in the room when they got married. I’m not proud of that. I had papers forged for them when Aaliyah was underaged,” he said. “It was just a quick little ceremony, she didn’t have on a white dress he didn’t have on a tux. Just everyday wear. She looked worried and scared.”
The new bribery allegation against Kelly expand on theexisting indictmentbrought against him this past summer.
Kelly iscurrently facing chargesof sex-trafficking, sexual assault and child pornography spread throughout Brooklyn, Chicago and Minneapolis.
KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP/Getty
A month later, the singer wasarrested again and indicted on federal chargesincluding child pornography, racketeering and obstruction of justice in both Illinois and New York, indictment documents and his lawyer confirmed.
He has remained jailed since being denied bail.
Then in August, Kelly was charged with two sex crimes in Minnesota after allegedly paying a teen girl $200 to dance nude back in 2001.
Kelly is scheduled to face trial in federal court in Chicago in April for charges of child pornography and obstruction of justice, according to theAssociated Press, before standing trial for in Brooklyn in May,Reutersreported.
Kelly has maintained his innocence throughout his legal troubles.
source: people.com
