Latest news with #BeauBrindley
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
R. Kelly Accuses Prison Officials of Murder Plot, Says He's In Danger
Originally appeared on E! Online R. Kelly is requesting what he believes to be a life-saving measure. The 'Ignition' singer—who is currently serving a 30-year sentence in a federal North Carolina prison for convictions associated with allegations of racketeering, bribery, coercion, enticement and sex trafficking—has asked to be released to home detention due to an alleged murder plot against him, according to court docs obtained by NBC News. 'His life depends on the oversight of literal 'guards' and jailers who are entrusted with his safety,' R. Kelly's attorney Beau B. Brindley wrote in the filing. 'Yet, explicit evidence has now emerged to show that the very officials charged with protecting incarcerated inmates have solicited Mr. Kelly's murder.' While Kelly (full name Robert Kelly) has denied all the charges against him—including in the 2022 Chicago sex crimes case in which he was convicted of six counts of sex crimes including child pornography—his legal team said that the alleged murder plot against him is a result of alleged crimes committed by Bureau of Prisons (BOP) officials against Kelly. More from E! Online 1000-Lb Sisters: Tammy Slaton Unveils Transformation After Skin Removal Surgery Aaron Rodgers Reveals He's Married Justin Bieber Slams "Transactional Relationships' After Hailey Bieber Split Rumors 'When that information began to be exposed by Mr. Kelly's attorneys, officials in the Bureau of Prisons solicited another inmate to kill him,' the filing continued. 'At least two avowed white supremacists and members of the Aryan Brotherhood have been approached by BOP officers and directed to take Mr. Kelly's life.' The attorney alleged that another prison authority gave the musician a warning, as well. 'The official then advised Mr. Kelly that he was in danger and that Mr. Kelly needed to be careful,' the lawyer wrote in the filing. 'The BOP official intimated that Mr. Kelly was not safe in Bureau of Prisons custody.' Brindley also said that the prison official told Kelly that he 'should avoid the mess hall' due to the 'possibility of poison being mixed into the food at the chow hall and in the commissary as a means of achieving these executions.' As a result of the alleged murder plot against Kelly, his legal team has asked that he be temporarily released to serve his ongoing sentence in home detention. E! News has reached out to Brindley, Bureau of Prisons officials and the U.S. attorney's office for comment and has not yet heard back. (E! and NBC News are both part of the NBCUniversal family.) For the latest breaking news updates, click here to download the E! News App
CBS News
3 days ago
- Politics
- CBS News
R. Kelly's attorneys ask Trump to set him free from prison, accuse feds of plotting to kill him
R. Kelly's attorneys on Tuesday asked President Trump to help them get him freed from federal custody, accusing authorities of plotting steal his mail in order to pressure witnesses to testify against him, and later recruited a white supremacist to kill him in prison. Kelly's attorneys filed an emergency motion on Tuesday in federal court in Chicago, claiming his life is in danger as he serves a 30-year prison sentence for various sex crimes. They also made a plea to President Trump, asking him to free Kelly immediately. "R. Kelly's life is now threatened, because of his willingness to fight and to expose the very kind of corruption that President Trump has been fighting and standing up to since the day he took that office," Kelly's attorney, Beau Brindley, said at a press conference Tuesday afternoon. "We will ask President Trump to help us." Last month, President Trump commuted the sentence of notorious Gangster Disciples co-founder Larry Hoover, and has said he might consider pardoning Sean "Diddy" Combs, who is currently on trial on sex trafficking and racketeering charges. In February, he pardoned former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, five years after commuting his sentence on corruption charges. Brindley said he does not plan to go through the normal clemency process to seek a pardon for Kelly from the president, but wants to ask the president directly. "We are seeking a conversation with the president, because R. Kelly does not have the time, with his life in danger, to go through the normal channels," Brindley said. "We are seeking talks with the White House. We are seeking talks with everybody who is willing to help us." The motion claims Kelly's former cellmate at the federal lockup in Chicago conspired with prison officials to steal his mail and turn them over to prosecutors before his trial on child pornography charges, in order to pit Kelly's former girlfriend against him. Kelly's attorneys also claim he recently received a call from a Bureau of Prison s official who told him he was not safe behind bars, and "should avoid the mess hall" du to the possibility of his food being poisoned. One fellow inmate at the prison where Kelly is being held in North Carolina, who is a member of the Aryan Brotherhood, claimed federal prison officials transferred him to that prison asked him to kill Kelly, according to the motion filed by Kelly's attorneys. Kelly's attorneys claim federal authorities told that inmate they would help him avoid a conviction for Kelly's murder by allowing him to escape from prison, as he had once before. Kelly's defense team also claims that inmate told federal authorities he was willing to kill Kelly, but instead told him the truth, and warned him that his life was in danger. Federal prosecutors moved to have Kelly's filing sealed after his attorneys revealed the name of one of his victims in their motion. A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's office in Chicago did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the filing from Kelly's attorneys. Kelly, 58, was convicted in 2022 in Chicago of child pornography charges, accused of making videos of himself sexually abusing three teenage girls, including his 14-year-old goddaughter. The same jury acquitted Kelly of seven other charges, including obstruction of justice, accusing him and two associates of rigging his 2008 child pornography trial in Cook County. Brindley represented Kelly's former manager, Derrel McDavid, during that trial, and is now working for Kelly. Meantime, a federal jury in New York convicted Kelly of racketeering and sex trafficking charges in 2021, finding him guilty of running a criminal enterprise to sexually exploit young women and children. Federal appeals courts have upheld both convictions. Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison in the New York case, and most of his 20-year sentence in the Chicago case is running concurrently to that prison term. The singer is serving his prison sentence at a medium-security federal correctional center in Butner, North Carolina, and is expected to be released on Dec. 21, 2045, when he would be nearly 79 years old.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
America's 'worst mayor' changes her tune in dramatic court hearing into widespread corruption
America's 'worst mayor' Tiffany Henyard has been uncharacteristically quiet during her latest court hearings amid her bombshell corruption case in Illinois. Henyard, 41, who served as the mayor of Dolton until she was defeated in a landslide election in January, is accused of financial mismanagement, corruption and fraud. A Cook County judge had told Henyard to appear in court for a grilling about whether she followed transparency laws about spending while she was mayor from 2021. But on Friday, Henyard's attorney Beau Brindley pleaded the Fifth on her behalf, saying she did not have the records the court had requested. The Fifth is the right to remain silent - in stark contrast to Henyard's usual outspoken approach as she has been loudly maintaining her innocence throughout the trial. Henyard previously said she was only 'the face of the village' and not its record keeper in response to criticism about her failure to produce the documents. The lawsuit against her was launched by the Edgar County Watchdogs, who sued the Village of Dolton after her administration ignored Freedom of Information Act requests last year. Brindley said Henyard does not have the document they requested. 'She has no idea what that document was,' he said. 'She's going back to some board meeting where they say she held up a single piece of paper. 'I don't know how and couldn't expect her to remember what that was given how many meetings there have been and how much chaos there was in Dolton.' Brindley advised Henyard to plead the Fifth in this case because she is also the subject of an ongoing FBI investigation into her spending. Independent investigators allege that Henyard mismanaged millions of dollars worth of taxpayer funds during her controversial tenure as the mayor of Dolton. 'At least as early as late 2021, there was a concerted, systematic effort on behalf of Mayor Henyard and others in her administration to hide the true financial condition of the Village of Dolton from the trustees and from members of the public,' former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said at a meeting announcing the findings. Lightfoot's 73-page report explained that there was a whopping $779,638 charged to town credit cards in 2023, with little to no tracking of the actual expenses. More than $50,000 spent on artificial ice tiles, which could have been used to build the town ice skating rink Henyard promoted on Instagram in February 2023. At least six government credit cards were also used to pay for glamorous getaways Henyard took to Las Vegas in May 2022 and May 2023, according to the report. 'Financial records from the village and Thornton Township reflect that a number of people traveled to Las Vegas on both of these trips,' Lightfoot said. 'And the expense of their travel, their lodging, their meals and entertainment were paid for on village and township credit cards.' 'There's no evidence that business development opportunities came to the village as a result of either of these two trips,' she concluded, prompting a groan from the audience. From 2021 through June 2024, credit cards were used for over $171,000 in travel-related expenses, including airfare, baggage fees, hotels, meals and rental cars. The report also revealed that over $50,000 was spent at local restaurants. Purchases were also made at Dick's Sporting Goods, Best Buy, Wayfair, Walgreens, Apple and Walmart. An additional $218,000 was spent on Amazon over the four-year-span Henyard has been in charge. There's also evidence that Henyard charged the town more than $7000 for her hair and makeup team, listing it as an 'assistant' cost. 'Many of the credit card expenditures have no accompanying receipt, and the statements alone provide limited information about the purchases,' according to the report. As a result of this spending frenzy, allegedly done by Henyard, the Dolton Board of Trustees banned her from using town credit cards in August 2024. The report also alleged that Dolton had a budget surplus of $5.61 million in April 2022 that quickly shrank to a $3.65 million deficit by May 2024. Lightfoot said Dolton received some $3 million in payments from the American Rescue Plan, a COVID-19 stimulus bill signed into law by former President Joe Biden in 2021. According to Lightfoot, hundreds of thousands of the original $3 million in ARPA funds went missing without receipts. Henyard also failed to appoint an official to oversee the massive sum of money, a requirement put in place by the Treasury Department, Lightfoot said. Lightfoot was hired in April 2024 to conduct the forensic accounting investigation by Dolton town trustees who want to see Henyard booted out of the job she's held since 2021.
