Disgraced R&B star R. Kelly back in Chicago for sex trial

CHICAGO (AP) — R. Kelly has been returned to the federal jail in downtown Chicago ahead of his trial on child pornography and obstruction-of-justice charges, just two weeks after the disgraced R&B star was sentenced in New York to 30 years in prison for racketeering and sex trafficking.

The 55-year-old Kelly was transferred Tuesday from the federal jail in Brooklyn to the Metropolitan Correctional Center, the Chicago Tribune reported. He was also held at the Chicago lockup after he was indicted on federal charges in Chicago and New York in 2019.

Jury selection for his federal trial in Chicago is set to begin Aug. 15.

Kelly was convicted in 2021 in New York on charges that he sexually abused young fans, including children, in a systematic scheme that prosecutors alleged went on for decades. He was sentenced in June.

Kelly has denied any wrongdoing.

Kelly was indicted in 2002 in Illinois state court on 21 counts of child pornography, but was acquitted six years later by a jury.

Federal prosecutors allege Kelly and two co-defendants fixed that state trial, saying Kelly arranged for a girl and her parents to travel overseas to prevent them from talking with police prior to his 2002 indictment and later instructed them to lie to a grand jury about the case.