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Music

02nd Jul 2022

R. Kelly is on suicide watch after being sentenced to 30 years in prison

April Curtin

Via Getty

It is not the first time he has been on suicide watch

R. Kelly has been placed on suicide watch after being given a 30-year prison sentence, his legal team have confirmed.

The ex-R&B singer, 55, was found guilty of nine sex crimes following a six week trial last September. These included one count of racketeering and eight counts of sex trafficking.

His lawyers asked that he be given a sentence of 10 years, but Judge Ann Donnelly said “the public has to be protected from behaviours like this”. Last Wednesday, he was sentenced to three decades behind bars.

Kelly’s attorney Jennifer Bonjean said she understands that R. Kelly has been placed on suicide watch, though she does not believe this is justified.

“The irony of putting someone on suicide watch when they’re not suicidal is it actually causes more harm,” she told CNN.

And speaking to Fox News Digital, Bonjean said: “Mr Kelly was placed on suicide watch for purely punitive reasons in violation of his Eighth Amendment rights,”  “MDC has a policy of placing high profile individuals under the harsh conditions of suicide watch whether they are suicidal or not. MDC Brooklyn is being run like a gulag.”

This is not the first time Kelly has been placed on suicide watch – this also happened after he was found guilty in 2021.

Kelly’s legal team will appeal the verdict – despite him earlier dubbing them “unprepared” and subsequently hiring Bonjean. She has previously said she is “happy defending anyone” having before represented “serial child rapist killers” and “mass murderers.”

Kelly is also facing a child pornography charge in Chicago, with a trial set for August.

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