Where Is R. Kelly Now? Inside the Disgraced Rapper’s Life in Federal Prison

R. Kelly has been serving his 30-year sentence in prison since he was convicted on federal charges, including racketeering and sex trafficking, in 2021 and 2022.

The disgraced R&B singer, whose real name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, is residing at the Federal Correctional Institution in Butner, N.C. In 2021, he was convicted on counts of racketeering, sex trafficking, child pornography and enticement in a New York court. The following year, a Chicago jury convicted him of producing child pornography and enticing a minor to engage in sexual activity.

However, Kelly is seeking a pardon or sentence commutation from President Donald Trump after alleging in an emergency filing that three officials with the Bureau of Prisons plotted his murder.

“We are in open discussions with people close to President Trump. And those discussions have expanded and intensified since we filed our motion,” Kelly’s attorney, Beau B. Brindley, told PEOPLE on June 12. “We believe that President Trump is the only person with the courage to help us.”

One week after filing the emergency motion, Kelly’s lawyers claimed that he overdosed on medication that prison staff gave him, according to a filing obtained by USA Today. His attorneys further alleged that Kelly was hospitalized on June 13 after receiving an “overdose quantity” of his anxiety and sleep medication.

So where is R. Kelly now? Here’s everything to know about the disgraced hip-hop mogul and his life behind bars.

What was R. Kelly convicted of?

Kelly was convicted of separate crimes in two different trials. In September 2021, Kelly was convicted of racketeering, sexual exploitation of children, forced labor and sex trafficking after a six-week trial in New York.

“R. Kelly used his fame, fortune and enablers to prey on the young, the vulnerable and the voiceless for his own sexual gratification, while many turned a blind eye,” Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in a statement. “Through his actions, Kelly exhibited a callous disregard for the devastation his crimes had on his victims and has shown no remorse for his conduct.”

A few months after his New York trial, Kelly was convicted on three counts of producing child pornography and three counts of enticing a minor to engage in sexual activity in a Chicago trial in September 2022.

“The damage Mr. Kelly inflicted on his victims is immeasurable,” U.S. Attorney John R. Lausch, Jr. said in a statement. “I want to thank the victims for their strength, perseverance, and courage in coming forward to testify at trial.”

What was R. Kelly’s sentence?

Kelly received two different sentences for both of his convictions, but he will serve most of them concurrently.

In June 2022, he was first sentenced to 30 years in federal prison after his trial in New York.

“With today’s sentence he has finally and appropriately been held accountable for his decades of abuse, exploitation and degradation of teenagers and other vulnerable young people,” Peace said at the time. “We hope that today’s sentence brings some measure of comfort and closure to the victims.”

After he was convicted in Chicago, Kelly was subsequently sentenced to 20 years in federal prison in September 2022. However, 19 years of his second sentence will be served concurrently.

“With today’s sentence, a sexual predator is being held accountable for the years of abuse he inflicted on minor victims,” Lausch said at the time. “Kelly used his celebrity and wealth to attract and victimize young girls, and to obstruct prior criminal proceedings intended to end his despicable conduct.”

Where is R. Kelly serving his prison sentence?

Kelly is serving his sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution in Butner, N.C. The former singer was transferred to the medium-security federal prison, also known as FCI Butner Medium I, in April 2023.

He initially began his sentence at the Metropolitan Correctional Center Chicago in February 2023, but he was transferred to FCI Butner Medium I in April 2023, according to The Associated Press.

What has R. Kelly said about prison?

During his time behind bars, Kelly has primarily spoken out through his attorneys. However, he broke his silence for the first time by calling into the Inmate Tea with A&P podcast in March 2025.

Kelly said he felt “great” in prison while singing his 1998 song “When a Woman’s Fed Up.” He also revealed that he has continued singing and writing music and claimed that he’s written “like 25 albums” behind bars.

“Well, singing is a beautiful disease that’s incurable,” he said. “That’s not gonna happen, stopping singing. I don’t care where I’m at. I’m always singing, I’m always writing … Right now I’m just working on getting out … I’m using patience as a tactic right now.”

Where is R. Kelly now?

Kelly is serving his 30-year sentence at FCI Butner Medium I in North Carolina, but he’s trying to get pardoned or have his sentence commuted.

In June 2025, PEOPLE obtained an emergency motion filed by Kelly’s lawyers in which they claimed that three officials with the Bureau of Prisons plotted to have a fellow inmate murder Kelly.

Kelly’s attorney, Beau B. Brindley, alleged that Kelly’s inmate, Mikeal Glenn Stine, was asked to kill Kelly. The emergency filing also included a declaration from Stine, where he claimed that officials told him that he would be given a chance to escape from custody and live his final months as a “free man.” Stine was allegedly diagnosed with terminal cancer ahead of the alleged arrangement. However, Stine allegedly told Kelly about the plot after he had a change of heart. The Bureau of Prisons declined to comment.

Kelly’s lawyer wrote in the motion that “drastic relief is warranted” to protect Kelly’s life. He wrote, “Mr. Kelly’s continued incarceration while he knows his life is in jeopardy constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.”

One day after Brindley filed the motion, he alleged that Kelly was punished. He told PEOPLE on June 11, “Immediately after our motion became public, Robert was thrown into solitary confinement. He cannot make phone calls to his family. He has no access to commissary. He has spiders crawling over him while he tries to sleep.”

As a result of the alleged murder plot, Brindley subsequently called on President Trump to step in and pardon or commute Kelly’s sentence. “He is not safe in federal custody,” Brindley told PEOPLE.

Trump has not responded to the request, but he previously said during an Oval Office press briefing in May that he’d “certainly” consider pardoning Sean “Diddy” Combs if he was convicted of similar sex crimes. (Diddy is currently facing unrelated charges in an ongoing sex trafficking trial.)

Shortly after Kelly and his attorneys made the allegations, Kelly allegedly overdosed on medication given to him by prison staff. His lawyers filed another motion on June 17, in which they claimed that Kelly was given an “overdose quantity” of his normal anxiety and sleep medication dosages on June 12, according to USA Today. The alleged overdose resulted in Kelly needing to be hospitalized after feeling “faint” and “dizzy” on June 13.

“He started to see black spots in his vision. Mr. Kelly tried to get up, but fell to the ground,” the motion read. “He crawled to the door of the cell and lost consciousness.”

After a two-day stay at Duke University Hospital in Durham, N.C., Kelly was reportedly removed by officers despite needing surgery for an ongoing blood clot issue.

“Within an hour, officers with guns came into his hospital room and removed,” the filing claimed. “[Kelly’s] life is in jeopardy right now because the Bureau of Prisons denied him necessary surgery to clear clots from his lungs. He could die from this condition, and they are letting it happen.”

The Bureau of Prisons declined to comment on the allegations, while federal prosecutors have slammed Kelly for being a “master manipulator.”