Photo: Getty Images
R. Kelly is being investigated for keeping a phone number to a former prison warden while behind bars in North Carolina.
According to a report TMZ published on Monday, February 16, the disgraced R&B singer has been held in solitary confinement while authorities investigate his ties to a retired warden from FCI Butner Medium 1. Kelly's lawyer, Beau Brindley, told the outlet that the singer met the warden after he got involved in a mentor program designed to guide other inmates. The program was spearheaded by the warden from FCI Butner Medium 1 until he recently retired.
Before he retired, the warden reportedly gave Kelly his phone number in case he needed advice regarding the mentor program. Kelly wrote the phone number down in a notebook he keeps in his cell. A few months later, the artist's cellmate was caught with a mobile phone, which is considered contraband in prison. During a search, prison officials found Kelly's notebook with the phone number in it. Afterward, Kelly was sent to the Special Housing Unit, where he'll remain until the investigation is over.
R. Kelly has been in the SHU since last week. AllHipHop reported that the artist was sent to solitary confinement nearly 30 minutes before his attorney arrived at FCI in Butler. Brindley was on site to review evidence for Kelly's recent motion for a new trial and prepare a reply brief. The singer is currently serving two sentences after he was convicted of sex crimes with minors in Chicago and New York City. In his request for a new trial, Kelly accused the prosecutors of misconduct and recently alleged the Bureau of Prisons tried to have him killed in his cell.