With less than two months until his federal racketeering trial is set to begin, R&B star R. Kelly has been transferred out of Chicago’s Metropolitan Correctional Center and into a new detention facility in New York City.
Kelly has spent most of the last two years at the downtown MCC following his arrest on separate charges in Chicago. But with his case in New York City set to go to trial first, Kelly has now been moved to the metropolitan detention center in Brooklyn, according to federal Bureau of Prison records.
U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly had approved this move back in April. She reiterated that Kelly should be moved to New York during a hearing last week.
Following pandemic delays, Donnelly previously told attorneys there are courthouse protections in place that would allow the case to finally go forward in August.
Prosecutors in Brooklyn allege Kelly led an enterprise made up of his managers, bodyguards and other employees who helped him recruit women and girls for sex. A jury is expected to hear testimony from alleged victims, each identified in court papers only as “Jane Doe.”
Kelly recently cut ties with his two Chicago attorneys, Steve Greenberg and Michael Leonard, who had represented him in multiple trials. His defense team now consists of Thomas Farinella and Nicole Blank Becker.
Kelly’s Brooklyn trial is set to begin Aug. 9.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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