Judge wants R. Kelly in NY for attorney decision

R. Kelly is heading to New York.

That was the decision by a federal judge in Brooklyn on Thursday after a hearing into whether one of the attorneys Kelly has selected to represent him at his upcoming racketeering trial is potentially conflicted because of her connections to an alleged victim in the case.

After questioning attorney Nicole Blank Becker about her prior relationship with the alleged victim, U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly appointed an independent lawyer to meet with Kelly in person in the near future and advise him how to proceed, two attorneys who were at the hearing told the Tribune.

Kelly has been jailed in Chicago since his arrest on the federal charges in July 2019 and participated in the hearing via a video link.

Prosecutors have previously said they were working with the U.S. Marshals Service to bring Kelly to New York shortly before the Aug. 9 trial date. But Donnelly’s decision on Thursday seemed to have shortened that timeline.

Kelly, 54, was indicted in 2019 on racketeering charges alleging he ran a criminal enterprise that recruited women and underage girls for illegal sexual contact, then isolated and threatened them to keep them under control. Jury questionnaires are set to go out to a pool of hundreds of potential jurors next month. He also faces trial in Chicago on federal charges related to alleged sex abuse of minors, as well as separate indictments brought in Cook County.

Donnelly scheduled Thursday’s hearing after Kelly’s two Chicago-based attorneys abruptly filed a motion to withdraw from the case last week. Kelly later told the judge he wished to terminate attorneys Steven Greenberg and Michael Leonard. The singer said he’s opted to go with Becker, who is based in Michigan, and another member of the legal team, Thomas Farinella of New York.

But the judge has yet to sign off on the change.

The Tribune reported Thursday that Becker’s potential conflicts involve in part an investigation into Richard Arline Jr., a self-described cousin of Kelly’s who was charged last year with attempting to pay up to $500,000 to an alleged victim in the racketeering case to keep her from testifying.