R Kelly asks for more time to file appeal in sex abuse case after testing positive for Covid in jail
R KELLY has reportedly asked for more time to file an appeal in his sex abuse case after testing positive for Covid in jail.
The disgraced singer was found guilty of racketeering last September following six weeks of graphic testimony.
The singer now faces decades in jail after pleading not guilty to charges accusing him of sexual abuse over two decades.
His attorney has now reportedly written to Judge Donnelly, involved in the case, to request a two week extension, until February 17 2022, in which to "file Mr Kelly's post trial motions".
A letter from the lawyer, shared online, reads: "Although undersigned counsel has been working diligently to complete Mr. Kelly's post-trial motions, several issues have arisen that demand a short extension."
It adds: "First, the MDC indefinitely suspended all jail matters over a month ago, preventing undersigned counsel from meeting with Mr Kelly to review the proposed pleadings.
"To complicate matters, Mr Kelly was advised he had contracted Covid, which interfered with his ability to speak with counsel by telephone."
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R. Kelly is said to have several Zoom meetings arranged over the next two weeks, when he and his counsel will prepare his post-trial defense.
The first of those meetings is expected to be held on February 3 this week.
In September 2021, the disgraced artist was found guilty on all nine charges against him.
This included bribery, forced labor, kidnapping, exploitation of a child, racketeering involving six alleged victims, and sexual trafficking across state lines.
The charges were based on the argument that the entourage of managers and aides who helped the singer meet girls — and keep them obedient and quiet — amounted to a criminal enterprise.
During Kelly's trial, several accusers testified in lurid detail, alleging the star subjected them to perverse and sadistic whims when they were underage.
Kelly was also convicted of criminal counts accusing him of violating the Mann Act, which makes it illegal to take anyone across state lines “for any immoral purpose”.
Following the jury's verdict, women's rights attorney Gloria Allred, who represented several of Kelly's victims, described the musician as the worst sexual predator she had pursued in her 47-year career of practicing law.
And, his ex-wife Drea Kelly, who was married to the disgraced star for 13 years, said her "heart breaks" for her kids who are forced to live with their dad's shame.
She told Good Morning Britain in September: "Well, I sit in a very difficult place cause unlike the rest of his victims I also share children with him. "I was married to him."
Drea, who shares three kids with the disgraced R&B singer, told the show how she wears two hats, that of a survivor and a mother.
She said: "My heart definitely goes out to the survivors and the courage that it takes to even 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."
Drea, real name Andrea, was married to R Kelly from 1996 to 2009.
Kelly's lawyer Deveraux Cannick said he was "disappointed" amid the verdict.
He said outside the court the government "cherry picked" evidence to support its narrative.
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The verdict came more than 10 years after the musician was acquitted of child pornography charges at an Illinois state trial.
A widely watched documentary “Surviving R. Kelly” helped force his case back into the spotlight
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