NEW YORK (AP) — Self-described manager and adviser R. Kelly pleaded guilty Tuesday to interstate stalking, less than a week after he was found guilty of making threats by phone to shoot up a theater in Manhattan, where a documentary about the singer was about to be shown.
Donnell Russell, 47, of Chicago, entered the plea in federal court in Brooklyn.
U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said Russell used threats, harassment and intimidation to silence one of Kelly’s victims. Kelly, who was sentenced to 30 years in prison last month, was convicted of racketeering and sex trafficking last year.
Peace said in a statement that Russell sent threatening messages to the woman and her mother and later posted a photo of the victim online.
On November 17, Russell could face up to five years in prison.
Prosecutors said the stalking campaign lasted from November 2018 to February 2020 after the woman filed a civil lawsuit against Kelly.
Last Friday, a jury in Manhattan federal court found Russell guilty of threatening physical harm by interstate communication.
The jury concluded that Russell had made threats over the phone, prompting the evacuation of a theater where Lifetime’s “Surviving R. Kelly” was scheduled to be shown and a panel discussion featuring several women in the documentary was scheduled to take place.
During the week-long trial, prosecutors argued that Russell was trying to protect the lucrative career of Kelly, a Grammy-winning songwriter and multi-platinum seller.
A court witness testified that a man with a deep voice called the theater to warn that “someone had a gun and they were going to shoot the place up.” Prosecutors said the call to the theater was made from Russell’s home on a day when Russell made nine phone calls to the theater to try to stop the documentary from showing.
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