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Federal authorities are investigating whether a former employee of the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) leaked information about incarcerated singer R. Kelly to a blogger.
Kelly was arrested over 2 years ago in Chicago and extradited to New York to stand trial on racketeering and sex trafficking charges.
According to BOP records, the employee accessed R. Kelly's files on a computer server 153 times in 2019. The employee had no authority to read the records.
Prosecutors asked a judge for permission to subpoena the employee's computer after YouTube vlogger Tasha K reported information only a prison employee would know.
In the affidavit which was unsealed in federal court in Chicago August 18, the employee is identified only as "Officer A."
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Kelly is identified as "Inmate A... a nationally recognized celebrity whose criminal case has received media attention."
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Joseph Fitzpatrick, a spokesman for U.S. Attorney John Lausch, confirmed "Inmate A" is Kelly.
Details contained in the affidavit was first reported by the Chicago Tribune.
The employee accessed records pertaining to Kelly while he was an inmate at Chicago's Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in 2019. The employee worked at the Thomson Correctional Center from May 2019 until December 2019 when she retired, according to the affidavit.
BOP records shows the officer in question used her BOP password to access Kelly's records between July 15, 2019 and Dec. 12, 2019 — even though the officer was not assigned to the MCC and was not authorized to access them.
In total, 60 BOP employees accessed Kelly's records from July 15, 2019, through Jan. 8, 2020, according to the affidavit. But the officer in question accessed the records 153 times.
YouTube
Tasha K, real name Latasha Kebe, 39, runs a popular Instagram blog and YouTube channel called UnwinewithTashaK. Her last known address is in Atlanta.
Tasha K reported information about Kelly known only to BOP employees, such as inmate calls, visitation logs, emails and funds, the affidavit said.
Tasha K's Instagram and YouTube channel were monitored by a federal agent after she published Kelly's visitation list and revealed a date of Dec. 5, 2019, at 8:07 a.m. in a Jan. 12, 2020 Instagram post.
The agent wrote that BOP records showed the employee accessed Kelly's records at that same time. Other BOP employees accessed the records at other times of the day, the agent wrote.
The employee also sent an email from her official BOP email address to a Gmail address on Nov. 13, 2019, and attached a 12-page document that contained Kelly's visitor records and money logs, according to the affidavit.
Tasha K reported some of the details in that email attachment in a Dec. 22, 2019 YouTube video, the agent wrote.
No charges have been filed against Tasha K.
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According to TMZ, a judge recently tossed Tasha's $3 million lawsuit against rapper Cardi B, in which she claimed the rapper assaulted her after she reported allegations about the star's minor daughter, Kulture.
Kelly faces federal racketeering charges in Brooklyn alleging he recruited women and girls for illegal sex and filmed child pornography.
Kelly has pleaded not guilty to all charges. He faces up to life in prison if found guilty on all counts.
