R. Kelly’s Former Manager Sentenced To Prison For Harassing One Of The Singer’s Victims
R. Kelly’s former manager, Donnell Russell, has been sentenced for threatening one of the singer’s victims.
According to WLS-TV, in July, Russell pleaded guilty to using threats, harassment, and intimidation to silence the victim. Yesterday (Nov. 17), he was sentenced to 20 months in prison.
Russell allegedly threatened to reveal sexually explicit photographs of the unidentified victim. He threatened to publicly reveal her sexual history if she did not withdraw her lawsuit against Kelly and “cease her participation and association with the organizers” of a “negative campaign” against Kelly, according to the District Attorney’s Office. According to court documents, Russell harassed the woman and her mother through mail, text messages, and online from at least November 2018 up until January 2020.
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US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace said in a statement, “For more than a year, the defendant engaged in a vicious campaign to harass, humiliate and threaten the victim in order to force her to dismiss her lawsuit against R. Kelly and stop speaking publicly about him.”
The statement continued, “The punishment meted out to the defendant today is a victory for crime victims, particularly those of sexual assault and abuse, who are often reluctant to come forward to law enforcement or pursue legal recourse, given the trauma and fear of retaliation associated with publicly discussing their experiences.”
In June, R. Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in New York after being convicted of racketeering and sex trafficking. Three months later, he was found guilty of child pornography charges in his federal trial in Chicago.