NEW YORK: Rapper R Kelly was indicted in New York on a host of charges including racketeering, kidnapping and coercion in connection with alleged sexual encounters with girls and women dating back to 1999.
Kelly was arrested yesterday in Chicago by federal authorities and was named in a federal indictment unsealed in Brooklyn Friday.
The government says Kelly led a racketeering enterprise that included his managers, bodyguards, drivers, personal assistants and members of his entourage.
The purpose of the organisation was “to promote R Kelly’s music and the R Kelly brand to recruit women and girls to engage in illegal sexual activity with Kelly.”
In exchange, “the members of the enterprise expected to receive financial opportunities and personal benefits, including increased power and status” within his group, according to the indictment.