Judge Orders R. Kelly’s Prison Account With More Than $27,000 Be Emptied

U.S. District Judge Ann M. Donnelly is not playing and wants R. Kelly‘s prison fund cleared immediately.

This follows reports that the disgraced artist had loads of money in his prison account yet still owed court fees and failed to pay victims.

Kelly, who was sentenced to 30 years in prison for sex trafficking, is back in court to try and fight some of his ongoing legal battles. He owes “$140,000 in court-ordered fines, including a $40,000 penalty for a fund for trafficking victims,” according to The Washington Post. 

The judge wrote an opinion on Friday ordering him to pay up. The Bureau of Prisons sent a check for $27,828.24 to the clerk for the federal court in New York, where R. Kelly was convicted. 

The ruling comes after an ongoing debate on the Bureau of Prisons rules surrounding inmates being allowed to have an unset amount of money in their prison banks, despite owing thousands.

The prison’s accounts allow inmates to pay for food, phone calls, emails, bath goods, and more.

The Bureau of Prisons has argued for years that whatever is in the prison accounts should remain, and inmates should only be required to pay the minimum of $25 every three months. 

After The Washington Posts’ recent articles on high profile inmates like USA gymnastics former doctor Larry Nassar, keeping thousands in their bank accounts while slowly paying victims and legal fees, the conversation of money was sparked again. 

Kelly’s account has been frozen thus far.