R. Kelly's former tour manager has testified that he bribed a government official to get the then-15-year-old singer Aaliyah a fake ID card so R Kelly could secretly marry her.
The 54-year-old musician is facing several charges of racketeering, sexual exploitation of a child, forced labor, kidnapping, enticement, and bribery.
Now, his former tour manager Demetrius Smith has revealed that he paid $500 for an ID used by Kelly, then 27, to wed singer Aaliyah, who was underage, per BBC.
Smith was giving evidence after he was granted immunity from prosecution.
He told a jury at Kelly's sex-trafficking trial that he went into a welfare office in Chicago in 1994 and asked an employee who was taking ID photos if they "want to make some money".
He said he was confident the bribe would work because "everybody needs some money", he added.
The welfare card was one of two fake IDs used to allow the R&B artist to marry the teen after he began a sexual relationship with her and believed she was pregnant, per Sky News.
A marriage license listed Aaliyah as 18, while Kelly was 27 at the time.
According to prosecutors, the marriage - which was later annulled by Aaliyah's parents - was used by Kelly to protect himself from criminal charges relating to having sex with a minor and prevent the singer from testifying against him.
Aaliyah tragically died aged 22 in a plane crash in 2001. Her debut album, Age Ain't Nothing But a Number, was produced and written by R Kelly.
Kelly - full name Robert Sylvester Kelly - is on trial also accused of being the ringleader of a two-decade-long scheme where he recruited women and underage girls for sex.
If he is convicted on all counts he could be sentenced to several decades in prison.
Two months prior to the trial's start date, two of Kelly's lawyers had asked to be taken off the sex trafficking case.
Take a look at this explosive interview with R Kelly in the video below:Per TMZ, attorneys Steven Greenberg and Michael Leonard filed documents on June 7, requesting to withdraw from the singer's federal case, stating that they found it difficult to work with other members of his legal team.
Per ABC 7 Chicago, in their letter to a New York federal judge, the pair wrote:
"We weren’t comfortable professionally with allowing lawyers who have never tried federal criminal cases to have significant trial responsibilities. That approach was not to everyone’s liking."
Greenberg and Leonard later told TMZ: "We refused to try a case with lawyers who don’t have the appropriate level of experience and skill because that is not in the client's best interest.
"It is a shame that lawyers can’t suppress their own egos or self-interest and do or act in the client's best interest. We wish Mr Kelly nothing but the greatest success."
