Celebrity2 min(s) read
Published 12:06 22 Oct 2021 GMT
R. Kelly was allegedly placed on suicide watch after he was convicted of nine different sex crimes last month.
Per The Independent, Steve Greenburg, the disgraced singer's attorney, claimed at a court hearing in Chicago that his famous client was placed on suicide watch some weeks ago but is no longer believed to be at risk.
It was the first such hearing to take place since the 'I Believe I Can Fly' hitmaker was convicted of one count of racketeering and eight counts of violating a law prohibiting the transportation of people across state lines for sexual purposes on September 27.
Eleven of his accusers - nine women and two men - testified against him during a six-week trial.
Greenburg neither confirm nor denied that Kelly did actually have intentions of ending his life in order to avoid potentially decades in prison.
The court found him guilty of 12 separate acts, including sex with a number of underage girls along with a plan he had made in 1994 to bribe an Illinois public official to get a fake ID for singer Aaliyah, who was 15 at the time, so that they could get married.
Kelly's sentencing will take place on May 4, 2022. He faces between 10 years and life behind bars.
He is currently awaiting another trial in Chicago, where he is accused of 13 more sex crimes including producing child pornography.
The singer has also been charged with trying to intimidate victims and conceal evidence - charges that Kelly has pleaded not guilty to.
The Chicago trial was originally supposed to begin in April this year but has been pushed back to August 2022 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and Kelly's other impending trial in New York.
Kelly is also set to go on trial in both Wisconsin and Minnesota on further sex crime charges.
Shortly after he was found guilty by the jury, Kelly's wife spoke to UK breakfast show Good Morning Britain to share the devastation she feels for her children following the ordeal.
She said: "I feel that my heart is in two places. My heart definitely goes out to the survivors and the courage that it takes to come forward and tell the story, but my heart breaks as a mother because this is now the legacy that my children will have to deal with and their children's children."
