Kelly’s upcoming trial in New York isn’t looking too good right about now. After not being granted bond from the Metropolitan Correctional Facility in Chicago on numerous occasions throughout 2020 and also losing a motion to prevent the jury from being anonymous, the disgraced artist still tried to remain positive, releasing a new song from behind bars earlier this month. However, a new development concerning one of his associates may negatively affect his case as well.
One of R. Kelly’s associates has reportedly just pleaded guilty to attempting to bribe and coerce a witness in the singer’s ongoing racketeering and sex trafficking case. According to Page Six, Richard Arline Jr. confessed to offering one of Kelly’s accusers hundreds of thousands of dollars in exchange for her silence.
During a virtual hearing in Brooklyn Federal Court on Tuesday, Arline Jr. said, “Me and another person offered Jane Doe money for her to not go forward with her complaint or testimony against Robert Kelly. I knew what I did was wrong.”
Arline Jr.’s testimony comes after an unnamed co-conspirator texted the accuser following Kelly’s racketeering and sex trafficking indictment in Brooklyn last year. The text read: “Rob is trying to get his cousin rich in contact with you because he wants to pay you for silence.”
To make matters worse, Arline contacted the woman via a phone call on May 26, 2020, revealing that Kelly had authorized a $500,000 payment for her, and it just so happened that the feds were listening in on the call. He was subsequently arrested alongside other R. Kelly associates Donnell Russell and Michael Wilson.
Kelly’s “cousin” is now facing up to 15 years in prison for his self-confessed tampering, but the public will have to wait to see how much time Arline serves when he is formally sentenced on the bribery conviction.