R.Kelly decided to officially cut ties with his original Chicago legal team and has opted to enlist Bill Cosby’s attorney. Cosby’s attorney Jennifer Bonjean successfully appealed The Cosby Show actor’s sexual assault conviction in 2018, so Kelly is hoping for the same in his sexual abuse case.
During a telephone conference Wednesday morning, Kelly said he wanted Jennifer Bonjean to represent him in the Chicago chase, set for a jury trial in August. The singer is currently awaiting sentencing in Brooklyn for his racketeering conviction in New York last year. Bonjean confirmed their legal relationship through a tweet, “Just filed an appearance in Mr. Kelly’s case pending in the Northern District of Illinois. His trial date is set for August 1, 2022.”
R. Kelly Cuts Ties With Legal Team And Hires Bill Cosby's Attorney">Pool/Getty Images
Kelly was supposed to be in court two weeks ago, but contracted COVID-19 in his jail cell, per Rolling Stone. Due to illness, Bonjean was granted a two-week extension to allow the singer to review all necessary paperwork. Kelly was found guilty of 12 charges, including engaging in sexual intercourse with a minor and bribing a police officer to get a 15-year-old singer a fake ID, per the Chicago Tribune. He currently faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years.
The disgraced singer was found guilty on charges of sexual abuse back in late September of last year. Women held him accountable for the abuse that dated back to the early 1990s. Following his conviction in New York, he also faced charges in a few other states, including federal child pornography, and obstruction counts in Chicago, per the New York Times.