Kelly, whose real name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, is serving a 30-year sentence after being convicted in September on racketeering and sex-trafficking charges stemming from a decadeslong practice of recruiting and grooming girls and young women for illegal sex.
When prosecutors requested a seizure of Kelly’s prison commissary, Kelly’s attorneys responded that his funds could not be seized without first providing notice or showing that he was in default of his payments.
New York federal judge Ann Donnelly rejected Kelly’s argument in her order on Friday and said the government was entitled to the $27,828 “because he owes substantial fines.”
Kelly owes over $140,000 in fines. Judge Donnelly issued a $100,000 fine based on the conviction plus a statutory $40,000 human-trafficking penalty. A restitution hearing is also scheduled for Kelly on September 28, when Donnelly will decide how much Kelly has to pay to his victims.
The order says the BOP must deposit a check of $27,828.24 to the court clerk within 10 days. It will then be put into an interest-bearing account pending the court’s determination on a restitution amount that can be given to the victims.
If the money in the account ends up exceeding the amount of restitution ordered, the remaining balance will be applied to Kelly’s $140,000 in fines, according to the order.
Donnelly also dismissed Kelly’s argument that the Federal Bureau of Prisons unlawfully withheld his money from him in anticipation of the court’s decision as having “no merit,” according to the document.
Kelly is currently also standing trial in Chicago on additional federal charges of production of child pornography and sexual abuse of minors. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges. The trial comes 14 years after he was previously acquitted of 14 child pornography charges in Illinois in 2008.