R&B singer R. Kelly was rushed to Duke University Hospital on June 13th after collapsing in his cell at the Federal Correctional Institution in Butner, North Carolina, following what his legal team describes as a “near-lethal” overdose of medication administered by prison staff while he was in solitary confinement.
According to court filings by Chicago attorney Beau Brindley, Kelly, serving a 30-year sentence for racketeering and sex trafficking convictions had been taking prescribed anxiety and sleep medications. On June 12, Brindley alleges, guards instructed Kelly to take an extra dose of his routine meds; within hours, he experienced dizziness, blacked-out vision, and ultimately passed out in his cell. Medics discovered he had been given “an amount of medicine that could have killed him.”
At Duke, doctors diagnosed Kelly with blood clots in both legs and his lungs, conditions they said required a minimum seven-day hospitalization and surgery. Despite these findings and against medical advice, prison personnel returned Kelly to FCI Butner after just two days, denying him the recommended treatment to clear the clots.
In a startling twist, Brindley’s emergency court motion alleges this incident was not accidental but part of a broader conspiracy by prison officials to have Kelly killed.
The filing includes a sworn declaration from inmate Mikeal Glenn Stine—identified as a member of the Aryan Brotherhood—who claims he was offered incentives, including early release, in exchange for murdering the singer. Kelly’s attorneys say a senior prison official even warned Kelly to avoid the mess hall over fears of poisoned meals.
Seeking relief, Kelly’s legal team has asked the Northern District of Illinois for temporary home detention and petitioned former President Donald Trump for a presidential pardon, arguing that ongoing threats and denial of medical care constitute “cruel and unusual punishment.”
Federal prosecutors and the Bureau of Prisons have dismissed the allegations as “fanciful” and a “continuation of Mr. Kelly’s denials,” emphasizing his unrepentant stance on his convictions and characterizing the medical response as appropriate under prison protocols. A BOP spokesperson declined further comment, citing privacy and ongoing litigation.
A hearing is expected in the coming days before Judge Martha Pacold, who will consider Kelly’s motion for release and the extraordinary claims of a murder-for-hire plot within federal walls. As this high-stakes legal battle unfolds, questions about inmate safety, medical oversight, and the potential for internal corruption at FCI Butner loom large.