Federal Prosecutors Want R. Kelly’s Money From On the ‘Books’ In Prison to Pay For Court Fines

Federal prosecutors want to get their hands on money that convicted R&B artist R. Kelly has on the books as he has failed to pay any court fines, according to Law & Crime.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel G. Saavedra revealed in a recent letter to the courts that prosecutors want to essentially “garnish” the $28,328.24 in his inmate trust account. Kelly, whose many hits believe “I Believe I Can Fly,” is serving his time in Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center.

“The Government has been informed by the BOP (Bureau of Prisons) that the Defendant had accumulated substantial funds in his inmate trust account,” Saavedra stated in a five-page letter. “Further, the BOP has confirmed that it left $500 in the Defendant’s trust account for Defendant’s use in MCC Chicago. Accordingly, as of this writing, the BOP has restrained a total $27,828.24.

“The Government now seeks entry of an order authorizing the BOP to turn over the restrained funds for application to the Defendant’s outstanding criminal penalties,” the letter continues.

(Note: Law & Crime has a copy of Saavedra’s letter.)

After Kelly was given a 30-year prison term for racketeering and sex trafficking, U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly ordered Kelly to pay a $100,000 fine, a $900 special assessment, and $40,000 assessment under the Justice for Trafficking Victims Act. As of last week, the prosecutors say the convicted entertainer hasn’t paid anything toward settling that debt.

A New York jury found Kelly guilty of sex trafficking and racketeering last year. The disgraced singer-songwriter is scheduled to go on a separate criminal trial in Chicago, where he was recently transported.