Convicted R&B singer R. Kelly contracted Covid-19 while awaiting sentencing at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.

The news was confirmed by his lawyer Jennifer Bonjean, a New York-based attorney whose legal career began in Chicago.

In a letter to Brooklyn Federal Court Judge Ann Donnelly, Bonjean requested another two weeks to file post-trial motions for an appeal after the singer’s diagnosis had “interfered with his ability to speak with counsel by telephone.”

She added, “It is vitally important that Mr. Kelly meaningfully participate in his post-trial defense.”

It was further reported that Kelly had decided to part ways with his original trial team, with attorneys Devereaux Cannick and Calvin Scholar already withdrawing from the case and Nicole Blank Becker and Thomas A. Farinella to follow soon after.

The “I Believe I Can Fly” singer was found guilty of sex-trafficking by a federal jury in New York after a five-week trial. In addition to abusing women and indulging in sexual misconduct with multiple underage girls, the trial also highlighted Kelly’s illegal marriage to teen singer Aaliyah, who was only 15, in 1994.

While Kelly’s sentencing is set for May 4, he faces life in prison.

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