Federal prison officials are investigating how R. Kelly came to have a retired warden’s personal phone number in his cell at a North Carolina facility, a situation that has now landed him in isolation.
Kelly’s attorney, Beau Brindley, told TMZ the issue traces back to Kelly’s involvement in a prison mentor program at FCI Butner Medium 1. The program was overseen by the facility’s warden, who has since retired.
According to Brindley, before leaving his post, the warden gave Kelly his cell phone number in case he needed guidance about the mentor initiative. The number was later written inside Kelly’s personal notebook.
Trouble escalated after Kelly’s cellmate was reportedly caught with a contraband mobile phone. Prison staff then searched the shared cell and found the retired warden’s number in Kelly’s notebook.
As a result, Kelly was placed in the Special Housing Unit, commonly known as the SHU, while officials review the circumstances surrounding the discovery, Brindley said.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons declined to provide specific details. A spokesperson stated, “For privacy, safety, and security reasons, we do not discuss the conditions of confinement or internal security procedures for any inmate or group of inmates.
Kelly is currently serving a 30 year federal sentence following his 2021 New York conviction on racketeering and sex trafficking charges. In 2022, he was also sentenced to 20 years in Chicago on child pornography and enticement convictions, with portions of the sentences set to run concurrently.
