Associates of Singer R. Kelly Arrested for Bribing and Intimidating his Alleged sex Trafficking Victims

Disgraced rapper R. Kelly is making headlines after three of his associates were charged with trying to harass and corruptly influence victims he allegedly sexually abused. 

Robert Sylvester Kelly was arrested for aggravated criminal sexual abuse in February. In May he was slapped with 11 counts of criminal assault of a minor. By July he was indicted by separate federal prosecutors from Chicago and Brooklyn for charges including racketeering, child pornography, and human trafficking. 

On Wednesday, prosecutors announced the arrests of three Kelly associates Donnell Russell, Michael Williams, and Richard Arline Jr. for intimidating, threatening, and harassing victims in the singer’s case.

Russell, one of Kelly’s friends and self-characterized manager/advisor, threatened to leak explicit photographs and expose the sexual history of a purported victim if she didn’t drop her lawsuit against the I Believe I Can Fly singer.   

Williams, who is an alleged longtime friend of Kelly’s, reportedly set fire to an SUV parked in the driveway of an accuser’s father. Records indicate a witness heard an explosion and saw a man running away with his arm on fire.  According to prosecutors, Williams had searched for the address on his phone two hours prior, and ten days before Googled, “How do fertilizer bombs work?”

Arline, another self-proclaimed associate of Kelly’s, tried to bribe an alleged victim with $500,000 in exchange for her silence. The phone call was recorded by the FBI and he was arrested on Wednesday.  

Kelly’s attorney, Steve Greenberg, released a statement that Kelly was not involved and “had nothing to do with any of these alleged acts by those charged.” 

The arrests come on the heels of a July request by New York prosecutors to keep jurors sequestered during the trial. To which Greenberg ironically stated: “The idea that R Kelly is going to do anything while his case is pending to intimidate jurors or threaten jurors like some 1950s mobster is ludicrous.”

Burned SUV

A photo of the SUV that was allegedly firebombed by Williams.

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I’ve realized a lot of people are influencing people for all the wrong reasons on social media. Some even portray a life they cannot sustain. Cars that are only rented for weekends, mansions that are only booked for occasions. I’ve literally never seen anyone post when they’ve been at there lowest. So, this is me at my lowest… Someone not only set my car on fire at 3am but they also made a gas line around my entire house, with intentions to burn my entire home down. It was something that was premeditated, but the fact that someone would go to that extreme to harm me is sickening. I hope this inspires you to not portray a one sided story on social media. I hope this inspires you to show the bad so when you do win people can connect and celebrate that win with you even more. I’ve been dealing with this which is why my feed, and YT videos have been put on pause. Thankfully the police are doing their due diligence during a sensitive time like this. Nonetheless, everyone is going through problems behind closed doors, whether they choose to share it or not, even the people you look up to. I just want people to tap into the reality of our world, and publicizing a “perfect cookie-cutter life” is just not real. Can we start posting real life on our feeds? What’s really happening behind your closed doors, because “perfect” does not exist in our world, and that’s just the truth of the matter. #betruetoyourself #protectblackwomen

A post shared by Azriel Clary (@azrielmostwanted) on Jun 25, 2020 at 3:23pm PDT

He Claims To Be Innocent

Kelly got emotional in an interview with Gale King. 

That’s what R. Kelly said too? pic.twitter.com/WGoUdxqfI6

— ???????ℯ (@LocalAhshanae) August 13, 2020

Kelly’s Mugshot

Prosecutors are pretty sure they’ve got the right guy. 

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#TSRUpdatez: #RKelly’s mugshot has been released after surrendering to police in Chicago last night ??

A post shared by The Shade Room (@theshaderoom) on Feb 23, 2019 at 6:24am PST

Fans Protest

Despite the overwhelming evidence, some fans still insist he’s innocent, and believe it enough to hold an upcoming rally.

SHARE THIS!! R. Kelly “Double Up” protest in Chicago Aug. 20-22nd! WE WILL BE HEARD as we go from 111 s Michigan to MCC, Kim Foxx office & radio station! @fox32news @CNN @nbcchicago @WGNNews @ABC7Chicago @CBSNews @WGCI @Tyrese @TIA_EWING @Power92Chicago @chicagotribune @Suntimes pic.twitter.com/ERo4BM2B72

— Daddy LoLo (@DaddyLoLo_) August 7, 2020

Celebs In Denial

Tyrese Gibson is still a fan.

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#Tyrese is still proudly a fan of #RKelly, as he feels he’s in no place to judge another person’s actions. Thoughts?⁠ Hit the link in bio to read more! #DXNews

A post shared by HipHopDX (@hiphopdx) on Aug 11, 2020 at 5:40pm PDT

Some Know Better

But most people are sane.

Whenever I hear R Kelly or Michael Jackson song after watching #LeavingNeverland and #SurvivingRKelly pic.twitter.com/mGkunjiZUp

— MJ (@1307lielow) August 5, 2020

He Did Make Hits

Even though some of them still love his music.

I know we hate R. Kelly but Ignition… pic.twitter.com/Hp5wG1d7dT

— Ntando (@Just_Nandos) August 11, 2020

His High Life

He does believe he can fly.

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? (.) #bornforthis

A post shared by R Kelly (@rkelly) on Dec 10, 2018 at 10:15am PST

In Court

But for the next 30 years he’ll probably be Trapped In The Closet.

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Three men charged for intimidating and threatening #RKelly accusers

A post shared by Burudanikilasiku news (@burudanikilasiku) on Aug 12, 2020 at 2:05pm PDT

Press Release

The Eastern District of New York’s statement about the recent arrests and detailed charges.  

JUST IN: Three people arrested in separate schemes to harass, threaten, intimidate and bribe alleged R. Kelly victims. From Eastern District of NY: pic.twitter.com/uKsLOs37uO

— Jon Seidel (@SeidelContent) August 12, 2020

More from U.S. Attorney in EDNY: pic.twitter.com/nnWeh3haIh

— Jon Seidel (@SeidelContent) August 12, 2020

Marie Finn