By Zach Mentz
Cleveland.com
BUTNER, N.C. — Convicted sex trafficker and disgraced R&B star R. Kelly was rushed to a hospital after he suffered a medical overdose caused by prison employees at the North Carolina prison where he is housed, according to his attorneys.
R. Kelly, 58, collapsed June 13 and was transported by ambulance to Duke University Hospital, where he received routine medical care for two days, according to The Guardian. He was later released back to prison.
However, his lawyers are seeking his release due to fears for his safety, according to reports.
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“Bureau of Prisons officials administered an amount of medication that significantly exceeded a safe dose and caused Mr. Kelly to overdose, putting his life in jeopardy,” reads part of an emergency motion filed by lawyers for R. Kelly, People reports.
The filing also claims prison officers denied the singer surgery after he was found to have blood clots in his legs and lungs.
“Mr. Kelly’s life is in jeopardy right now because the Bureau of Prisons denied him necessary surgery to clear clots from his lungs,” the motion reads. “He could die from this condition, and they are letting it happen. There is no legitimate explanation for that.”
Kelly’s medical episode on June 13 came three days after he was placed in solitary confinement, according to his attorneys. That punishment came shortly after his attorneys filed their first emergency motion seeking his release, claiming that three Bureau of Prisons officials were plotting to have him killed by another inmate.
The Bureau of Prisons denied to comment on “pending litigation,” USA Today reports.
Kelly is serving a 30-year prison sentence after he was convicted in federal court in 2021 of racketeering and violating the Mann Act, a sex trafficking law. In 2022, Kelly was convicted by a federal jury in Chicago on charges of producing child pornography and child enticement, for which he received a 20-year sentence to be served concurrently with his existing sentence.
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