R. Kelly transferred from Chicago to North Carolina prison

Singer and child predator R. Kelly has been transferred to a prison in North Carolina, officials said Monday.

Kelly, 56, arrived at a federal prison in Butner, N.C., last Wednesday, according to the Bureau of Prisons. He had been held at Metropolitan Correctional Center in downtown Chicago.

Federal officials did not reveal why Kelly was transferred, saying it was a matter of privacy, safety and security.

The downtown Chicago prison often holds prisoners relatively briefly before they are transferred to more remote federal facilities. The Butner prison sits about 25 miles north of Raleigh.

In February, Kelly was sentenced to 20 years in prison after he was convicted in Chicago Federal Court of child pornography and enticing minors for sex.

Months earlier, the disgraced crooner was convicted in Brooklyn Federal Court of running a decades-long sex abuse scheme that targeted his fans, some of whom were minors. He was sentenced to 30 years in that case.

All but one of the years from Kelly’s Chicago sentence will be served concurrently with his New York sentence.

“The only way to ensure Kelly does not reoffend is to impose a sentence that will keep him in prison for the rest of his life,” Chicago prosecutors argued at his sentencing hearing.

The federal prison in Butner has been home to several famous prisoners over the years. In 2009, notorious ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff was sent to the site. In 2021, he died there.

Jesse Jackson Jr., “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski and “Tiger King” star Joe Exotic have all spent time in Butner, too. Gambino family crime boss Peter Gotti, brother of John, was also incarcerated in Butner and died in the prison in 2021.

With News Wire Services