In a circumstance that probably made some of his victims and adversaries smile, singer R. Kelly failed to raise the requisite bond money to secure his release Saturday evening.
Therefore, Kelly had to stay overnight in the Cook County Jail.
According to reports, the 12 Play lyricist failed to produce the court-ordered $100K on a $1M bond by 9 p.m. last night, so he was kept in the holding cell he was placed in after his bond hearing.
TMZ states that R. Kelly was kept in a holding tank alone because the administrators don’t want him in general population with inmates for obvious reasons. R. Kelly is identified as a “high profile individual” and subsequently precautions were taken to segregate him.
Cook County District Attorney Kim Foxx tried to argue against any bail at all based upon the seriousness of the crimes, but the judge instead set bail at $250K for each indictment. In total, Kelly faces 10 charges, but some of the four indictments had more than one charge per case.
During a press conference after the bail hearing, Foxx gave up more details of the case, saying that two of the four women gave her office physical evidence that included shirts with R. Kelly’s alleged semen on them.
If convicted, Kelly faces up to seven years in prison for each charge or 70 years.
Kelly’s attorneys blamed the delay in retrieving the necessary money on the fact that the singer’s finances are complicated and a “mess” and that the bail hearing was set on a Saturday. TMZ reported that Kelly will only be released on bond if he produces the minimum amount demanded by the court.
Meanwhile, two of Kelly’s “housemates,” Joycelyn Savage and Azriel Clary, both appeared in the courtroom for R. Kelly on Saturday and were seated in the first row reserved for friends and family during his hearing. Even though they have been described as “sex slaves,” both have previously said they live with R. Kelly on their own volition. They were seen walking into the courtroom holding hands.
