R. Kelly’s Brooklyn Sex-Trafficking Trial Set For August

R&B superstar R. Kelly’s sex-trafficking and racketeering trial is expected to go forward in August — after the pandemic had delayed the proceeding four times, a federal judge said Thursday.

Assistant US Attorney Elizabeth Geddes told US District Judge Ann Donnelly during a virtual hearing that prosecutors would, “begin that process of moving [Kelly] to Brooklyn from Chicago for trial.”

The “I Believe I Can Fly” crooner is locked up in Chicago jail on a separate federal indictment that includes charges of child pornography, sexual exploitation of children and conspiracy to defraud the US government. Once the Brooklyn case wraps up, the three-time Grammy award winner — whose given name is Robert Sylvester Kelly — is scheduled to be tried in the Windy City.

The judge also assured the parties Thursday that other trials were underway in the Eastern District of New York and appropriate safety measures are in place.

“It’s going to be normal as that is defined in these unusual times,” she said. “It may be that communication is through headsets, but it’s been working in other trials so I’m not too concerned about that.”

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