R. Kelly trial postponed as feds seize over 100 electronic devices

The embattled R&B singer pleaded not guilty Thursday to an updated federal indictment that now also adds a new accuser referred to as “Minor 6” as well as child pornography and conspiracy

Dawn Onley

Mar 6, 2020

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R. Kelly’s trial has been rescheduled until October after it was learned that federal investigators conducted a recent raid of the singer’s electronics equipment and seized more than 100 devices.

Meanwhile, the embattled R&B singer pleaded not guilty Thursday to an updated federal indictment that now also adds a new accuser referred to as “Minor 6” as well as child pornography, conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government, and other charges. The additional charges state Kelly met the newest alleged victim around 1997.

She was about 14 or 15. It is alleged he raped her on multiple occasions until about December 2000.

Prosecutors brought this latest information up during an arraignment for Kelly before U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber. They told Leinenweber that Kelly’s original April 27 trial date would not give them adequate time to search the devices, including iPads, cellphones, and computer hard drives that were seized in the raid, according to The Chicago Tribune. The new trial date is Oct. 13.

Prosecutors withheld the location of the raid, however, Kelly’s lawyer said it took place at a storage facility close to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. The facility, which was also reportedly raided several months ago for separate criminal charges Kelly faces, houses the singer’s tour equipment, according to attorney Steve Greenberg.

“It’s where he keeps his tour bus, stage equipment, and all sorts of computers,” Greenberg told The Chicago Tribune. “It’s stuff like the iPad that the sound guy uses…they aren’t going to find anything.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Angel Krull told the judge prosecutors planned to amend the indictment again very soon to add “yet another victim” to Kelly’s growing number of alleged victims.

A separate trial for Kelly is now set for the fall in Cook County. It is also expected to be rescheduled, Kelly’s lawyers said.

Kelly, 53, whose birth name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, has another trial date set for July in New York, where he faces racketeering conspiracy charges in federal court for allegedly identifying underage girls at his concerts and grooming them. He has been held without bond since last July.