Self-described manager and advisor to R. Kelly has recently plead guilty on Tuesday to a charge of interstate stalking, only a week after he was convicted of making a phone threat to a Manhattan theater where a documentary about R. Kelly was going to be shown. Donnell Russel is 47 years old, and from Chicago, Illinois, he entered his plea in Brooklyn federal court.
Breon Peace, U.S. Attorney stated that Russel had used threats, harassment, and intimidation to silence one of Kelly’s sexual abuse victims. Kelly, was sentenced to 30 years in prison just last month, after being convicted of racketeering and sex trafficking. Peace stated that, Russell had sent threatening messages to the woman and her mother as well as publishing explicit photos of the victim on the internet. Russell may face up to five years in prison for the charges.
Prosecutors claim that the stalking and harassment occurred from the period of November of 2018 to February of 2020 after the victim filed a civil lawsuit against Kelly. Just last Friday, a Manhattan federal court jury found Russell guilty of threatening physical harm through interstate communication. Th jury also decided that Russell made a phone threat that caused the evacuation of a theater where Lifetime’s “Surviving R. Kelly” series was shown, with a panel discussing featuring women from the documentary.
A trial witness testified that a man with a deep voice called the theater to warn “someone had a gun and they were going to shoot up the place.” The prosecutors determined that the call was made from Russell’s home on the same day that Russell made nine phone calls to the theatre in an attempt to stop them from playing the documentary.
—
Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.com