R. Kelly’s Former Manager Donnell Russell Sentenced To A Year In Prison For Calling In Shooting Threat That Disrupted Screening Of ‘Surviving R. Kelly’

R. Kelly’s Former Manager Donnell Russell Sentenced To A Year In Prison For Calling In Shooting Threat That Disrupted Screening Of ‘Surviving R. Kelly’

R. Kelly’s former manager will be spending a year in federal prison.

New reports revealed on Monday (Dec. 19) Donnell Russell, R. Kelly’s former manager, was sentenced to 20 months behind bars for calling in a shooting threat that put a pause on a screening of a condemning documentary about the R&B singer. Donnell Russell admitted to a Manhattan federal judge that he “made bad judgments” when working with R. Kelly. Donnell Russell added:

“I’m not a horrible person.” 

Russell said he reconnected with R. Kelly when he was facing a growing series of accusations that led up to his sex trafficking and racketeering conviction last year. The singer’s former manager explained that he intended to assist Kelly, full name Robert Sylvester Kelly, with intellectual property matters that he assumed could help the 55-year-old pay legal bills.

Prosecutors alleged Russell tried to suppress the abuse allegations by attempting to intimidate at least one accuser, threatening to sue over Lifetime’s “Surviving R. Kelly” docuseries, and calling in a shooting warning that shut down the 2018 premiere of the famed series.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, the docuseries focuses on Kelly’s alleged victims who claim to have been sexually abused by the Chicago native.

As previously reported, a jury convicted Russell in July of threatening physical harm through interstate communication, while acquitting him of conspiracy. Days after the verdict, the 47-year-old pleaded guilty to an interstate stalking charge involving one of Kelly’s sexual abuse accusers.

Amid the premiere, the phone call claimed that someone at the theater had a gun and intended to fire. The screening was canceled and the theater was evacuated. In court on Monday (Dec. 19), Russell said:

“I was happy that it ended. I didn’t question how it ended.” 

As you may already know, Russell’s former client was sentenced in June to 30 years in prison after being found guilty of trafficking and racketeering in Brooklyn federal court. A Chicago federal jury convicted Kelly in September for his involvement in child pornography and enticing girls for sex. In that case, he is set to be sentenced on Feb. 23.

What are your thoughts on Donnell Russell’s sentencing? Tell us below.

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