Investigators have executed a search warrant to raid a Chicago storage unit owned by R. Kelly, seizing over 100 electronic devices. According to The Chicago Tribune, prosecutors now need additional time to search the collected iPads, cellphones and hard drives, postponing Kelly’s April court date until October.
Kelly’s attorney Steve Greenberg revealed that the storage facility, located near Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, secures the singer’s touring equipment.
“It’s where he keeps his tour bus, stage equipment and all sorts of computers,” he told the outlet. “It’s stuff like the iPad that the sound guy uses…they aren’t going to find anything.”
In addition to the raid, another victim has come forth accusing Kelly of sexually abusing her as a minor, when she was 14 years old, from 1997 to 2000. The delay of his Chicago trial means that Kelly’s first trial will take place in Brooklyn this July, where he’s facing racketeering conspiracy charges in a federal court.
Kelly has been held in jail without bond since being arrested last July. He’s pleaded not guilty to all charges, including four separate indictments of sexual assault in Cook County, IL. He also faces a pending charge in Minnesota, where a woman accused him of soliciting her as a teenager when she asked for his autograph in 2001.
His longtime manager and co-defendant Derrell McDavid is still hoping to go to trial next month. McDavid is accused of conspiring with Kelly and his former employee Milton “June” Brown to pay off victims and witnesses during Kelly’s 2008 child pornography trial.
“His life is on hold here,” McDavid’s attorney Beau Brindley said, arguing that his case should proceed without Kelly. “The reality is he has a right to a speedy trial and he wants to go trial on April 27.”
Kelly’s Brooklyn trial is set for July 7.