Predator R. Kelly placed on suicide watch at NYC jail: lawyer

Convicted sexual predator and former R&B superstar R. Kelly was placed on suicide watch at the Brooklyn jail where he is being held after he was sentenced to 30 years in prison earlier this week, his attorney said. 

Lawyer Jennifer Bonjean claimed Kelly was placed on the watch as punishment by guards at the lockup — which she said was run like a “gulag.” 

“Mr. Kelly was placed on suicide watch for purely punitive reasons in violation of his Eighth Amendment rights. MDC has a policy of placing high profile individuals under the harsh conditions of suicide watch whether they are suicidal or not (this was done recently with Ghislaine Maxwell),” Bonjean said in a statement, referring to Jeffrey Epstein’s co-conspirator who is also locked up at the Sunset Park jail. 

“MDC Brooklyn is being run like a gulag. My partner and I spoke with Mr. Kelly following his sentencing, he expressed that he was mentally fine and ONLY expressed concern that even though he was NOT suicidal, MDC would place him on suicide watch,” she added. 

On suicide watch, inmates are monitored 24/7 in a “stripped down” room without any comfort items such as books or magazines, Bonjean said. 

“They are entirely isolated. They are stripped of their clothing and underwear and forced to wear a smock made of material akin to the blankets moving companies use when they wrap up furniture. They are denied utensils for eating. They cannot shower or shave,” Bonjean said in an email. 

“These conditions may be appropriate for someone who is actually suicidal, they serve no purpose for someone who is not,” she added. “The only explanation for subjecting someone to these harsh conditions who is not suicidal is punitive.”

A spokesperson for the federal Bureau of Prisons declined to comment about Kelly, but said the agency is “committed to ensuring the safety and security of all inmates in our population, our staff, and the public.” 

Kelly, 55, was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Wednesday for racketeering and other charges related to a criminal enterprise he ran for decades that allowed him to prey on and sexually abuse a number of his fans and others he drew into his inner circle. 

“With every addition of a new victim, you grew in wickedness,” victim Jovante Cunningham told Kelly in the courtroom before a federal judge handed down the three-decade sentence.

“You used your fame and power to groom and coach underage boys and girls for your own sexual gratification,” she added.

Kelly is due to be transferred to Illinois in the coming weeks, where he is due to go on trial on child pornography, sexual abuse and other charges in Chicago next month.

Maxwell, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison earlier this week, has requested to serve her time at a federal lockup in Connecticut. 

Her accomplice, Epstein, died in a lower Manhattan jail cell in 2019 while awaiting federal sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide by the New York medical examiner’s office.