I Believe I Can Fly: The Real Reason R. Kelly Was Denied Bail

R. Kelly was denied bail by a Brooklyn judge Wednesday. Despite the embattled singers claims that he is broke and too famous to flee the country, he is still being considered a flight risk.

According to a legal letter obtained by The Blast, federal prosecutors in New York asked a judge to block him from being released because he may flee to Dubai.

“While the defendant may not have traveled internationally in recent years, it is not true that he lacks the ability and desire to do so, prosecutors said.  “Indeed, this year, after he had been released on bail in his current Cook County case, he sought to travel to Dubai with his two live-in girlfriends, each of whom took steps to accompany him by submitting applications to obtain their own passports. Indeed, his desire to travel abroad is likely even higher given his diminished stature here in the United States.”

Brooklyn federal Judge Ann Donnelly, in denying the bail request, also noted that Kelly is accused of committing crimes involving “very young girls,” his finances are “murky, to say the least” and the proposed home detention “certainly would do nothing to deter him” from intimidating witnesses.

The judge set a May 18, 2020, trial start and said the proceeding is expected to last about three weeks.

The “I Believe I Can Fly” crooner, who faces sex-trafficking and other raps in federal court in both New York and Chicago, had asked to be freed while awaiting trial. He is currently behind bars in Chicago’s Metropolitan Correctional Center. He was not in court.