Is R Kelly in jail? Where is singer sentenced for child sex abuse now

R&B legend R Kelly has been sentenced to 30 years in jail for child sex abuse, cementing his fall from grace. However, Kelly has already been in the American prison system, as he was first held in Chicago facing a trial in a federal case investigating the 55-year-old’s sprawling sex crimes investigation. 

Kelly was at the Metropolitan Correctional Center and his former attorney Michael Leonard opened up about the singer’s time in lockup. 

The singer had an 8 by 10, two-person cell there, and was let out for a few hours in the day, to check his email, make phone calls, talk to his lawyers, eat and shower. Kelly was put in lockup in 2019, and the world began grappling with COVID in 2020, whose impact was felt by the singer as well. The prison’s usual rooftop basketball court was placed out of bounds for inmates. 

Also Read | A timeline of the allegations that led to R Kelly’s conviction

“It’s a horribly emotional time to be detained, maybe one of the worst ever,” Leonard told Billboard. Kelly was initially placed in a segregated unit for his own protection, but the singer quickly got along with other inmates, with his former lawyer noting that Kelly sang for the others “once in a blue moon” and the inmates found him “very approachable”. 

Apart from that, Kelly spent around 22 hours in his cell, eating the same bland food as the others in prison, Leonard noted. 

In April 2021, a federal judge okayed Kelly’s move to New York where he was shifted to the Metropolitan Detention Center, Brooklyn, the same place where disgraced socialite Ghislaine Maxwell was held. 

Also Read | R Kelly net worth: How singer convicted of child sex abuse lost his wealth

New York-based attorney Stacey Richman told Billboard about Kelly’s MDC accommodations, noting “He will get the same food as everyone else. He, like everyone else, will have commissary money so he can access more foods and sundries”. 

In February 2022, R Kelly contracted COVID while at MDC. Following the sentencing, it remains to be seen where Kelly does time, but for now, the Federal Bureau of Prisons website confirms that he’s being held at the Brooklyn MDC.