Incarcerated singer/songwriter R. Kelly has asked President Donald Trump for clemency. In an emergency motion reviewed by Entertainment Weekly, the “I Believe I Can Fly” singer, real name Robert Kelly, requested to be moved to home detention because he fears for his life in prison.
Kelly, 58, claims prison officials arranged to have him killed by another inmate. Kelly’s legal team is in talks with Trump’s Pardon Czar Alice Marie Johnson, who recently helped secure the release of reality stars Todd and Julie Chrisley from federal prisons.
Kelly’s attorneys are confident that he will be released from prison in the near future. Ms. Johnson is reportedly a fan of R. Kelly’s music.
“We are in open discussions with people close to President Trump. And those discussions have expanded and intensified since we filed our motion,” Kelly’s attorney Beau B. Brindley told PEOPLE. “We believe that President Trump is the only person with the courage to help us. And our need only grows stronger by the day.”
Kelly is currently serving a 30-year sentence following his conviction on federal charges including racketeering and sex trafficking.
Brindley filed the emergency motion after inmate, Mikeal Glenn Stine, alleged that he was asked to kill Kelly by three high-ranking Bureau of Prisons officials.
Stine claims to be a longtime member of the Aryan Brotherhood. He said his title as commissioner of the Aryan Brotherhood gave him the “power to order beatings, stabbings and executions that were carried out by other members of the gang.”
