Feds charge R. Kelly

CHICAGO — R. Kelly and his entourage recruited girls and women to engage in illegal sexual activity with the singer and covered up the crimes by paying off and threatening victims and witnesses, federal prosecutors alleged in indictments that could keep the Grammy winner behind bars for decades.

Because they come from the federal government, the accusations add a new dimension to the allegations against Kelly, who was already facing sexual abuse charges brought by Illinois prosecutors earlier this year.

One federal indictment in Chicago said Kelly arranged for a girl and her parents to travel overseas to prevent them from talking with police prior to his 2002 indictment on 21 counts of child pornography. The R& B artist allegedly later instructed them to lie to a grand jury about the case. Kelly was acquitted in 2008 of the charges, which accused him of recording a video of sex acts with the girl, who was 12 or 13 when they met in the mid- 1990s.

A separate indictment filed in the Eastern District of New York included charges of racketeering, kidnapping, forced labor and the sexual exploitation of a child.

Kelly was arrested Thursday evening while walking his dog in Chicago. He appeared in court Friday, standing before the judge in an orange jumpsuit, with his hands clasped behind his back. The only words he spoke during the 15- minute hearing were “yes, ma’am.”

He will remain in federal custody at least until Tuesday, when he’s scheduled for a detention hearing. Prosecutors want him held without bail.