R. Kelly’s Prison Commissary Account Seized, Singer Ordered To Turn Over $27K Balance To Pay His Victims & Other Financial Penalties

R. Kelly

R. Kelly’s Prison Commissary Account Seized, Singer Ordered To Turn Over $27K Balance To Pay His Victims & Other Financial Penalties

A judge has ruled that R. Kelly’s inmate prison money will go to his victims.

According to reports, a Brooklyn judge ruled on Friday (September 9) that convicted singer/songwriter R. Kelly, 55, must hand over more than $27,000 — until it can be paid to his victims as restitution.

R. Kelly

Reportedly, the disgraced R&B singer’s funds were seized because R. Kelly failed to pay any of the financial penalties that federal Judge Ann Donnelly imposed. In addition to his prison time, he was ordered to pay a $100,000 fine, a $900 special assessment, and a $40,000 assessment under the Justice for Trafficking Victims Act.

R. Kelly

Judge Ann Donnelly reportedly ordered the Bureau of Prisons to turn over the substantial $27,828 found in the multi-platinum singer’s inmate trust account into an interest-bearing account, until she determines how much money should be paid in restitution to his victims.

Judge Ann Donnelly

Reports state that the money has remained frozen, leaving Kelly, real name Robert Sylvester Kelly, with a $500 balance for his use in Chicago, where he is currently serving his 30-year sentence. Judge Ann Donnelly isn’t letting up on Kelly, who was convicted last year in New York of sexually abusing multiple people for decades. She explained that he still hasn’t paid nearly $150,000 in fines and fees ordered at his sentencing during her ruling. Donnelly said,

“The government is entitled to the defendant’s funds because he owes substantial fines.”

She continued,

“I am also mindful of victims’ rights ‘to full and timely restitution.’”

Donnelly added,

“Once restitution is determined by the court, the Clerk of Court should apply the monies held in the interest-bearing account first to the $900 special assessment and then to the restitution judgment.”

In June, Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison in the New York case. He is currently on trial in Chicago in a separate case accusing him of videotaping himself having sex with multiple children, luring children for sex, and rigging his 2008 pornography trial.

R. Kelly

What are your thoughts on this? Let us know in the comments below! 

[Sources: 1, 2]