Disgraced R&B singer R. Kelly was hospitalized after reportedly overdosing on anxiety medication in prison, according to his attorneys.
The incident occurred on June 13 at the Federal Correctional Institute in Butner, North Carolina. In a legal filing, Kelly’s lawyers claim he was deliberately given an “overdose quantity” of his regular medication by prison staff, causing him to feel “faint” and “dizzy” before passing out. He was rushed to Duke University Hospital, where he reportedly spent two days recovering.
The singer, real name Robert Sylvester Kelly, is serving a 30-year sentence for racketeering and sex trafficking. He alleges the overdose was linked to a plot to kill him, citing a sworn statement by terminally ill inmate Mikeal Glenn Stine.
“This is going to open a new can of worms,” Kelly allegedly told a staffer. Prosecutors dismissed the claims as “deeply unserious,” while the Bureau of Prisons declined to comment on pending litigation.