Inmate Writes, 'The Government Made Me Attack R. Kelly'

CHICAGO (CBS) -- In a legal filing this week, an inmate at the Metropolitan Correctional Center claims he sneaked into R. Kelly's jail cell with every intention of attacking the singer.

In the handwritten filing to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, titled, "The Government Made Me Attack R. Kelly," Jeremiah Farmer said he was "forced" to beat the Grammy winner.

Kelly was asleep in his cell at the downtown federal jail last Wednesday when he was attacked.

Farmer is in jail for racketeering conspiracy.

Farmer wrote a motion to the appeals panel asking for an extension for filing his docketing statement. He complained that the COVID-19 pandemic had made it so he could not use the library computer to make legal copies in a timely fashion and was denied legal copies of his motions by an attorney and a judge. He also claimed that every attorney who had been assigned to him had been "ineffective and conspired against" him.

"Farmer, with nowhere else to turn for legal help, was forced to assault hip-hop R&B singer Robert Kelly in hopes of getting spotlight attention and world news notice to shed the light on the government corruption," Farmer wrote.

He continued: "Due to the most blatant government corruption in Farmer's case, and being in lockdown for R. Kelly protest, I physically beat Mr. Kelly in an attempt to shed media spotlight on Farmer's case to prove government corruption and helping Farmer's innocence to prevail."

Also included in the filing was a Bureau of Prisons incident report in which an employee said he was attempting to meet with Farmer at 9:45 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 26, when Farmer left the office despite being ordered to stay.

Farmer then went to another section which was not the one he is assigned to, and the employee followed him. The employee reported that he found Farmer on top of Kelly on the lower bunk in the cell, and said Farmer appeared to be punching Kelly in the head and torso.

The employee ordered Farmer to stop attacking Kelly, and when Farmer did not respond, the employee stopped the assault using pepper spray.

Following the attack, Kelly was moved to solitary confinement.

In 2018, Farmer was named in an indictment along with five other purported Latin Kings gang members with conspiracy to commit racketeering activity and conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute cocaine, marijuana and Xanax as far back as 1999.

That indictment also charged Farmer with committing a double homicide during the robbery of a Hammond business in 1999. Published reports said Farmer went on to be convicted of racketeering conspiracy.

Kelly's attorneys have repeatedly asked for the singer's release while he awaits trial. So far, all the requests have been denied.

Kelly faces sex crime charges in four separate jurisdictions in Chicago, New York, and Minnesota.

Federal charges in New York accuse Kelly of using his fame to recruit young women and girls for illegal sexual activity. The racketeering case also accuses him of kidnapping, sexual exploitation of a child, and forced labor. Jury selection in that case had been scheduled to begin on Sept. 29, but the trial date has since been postponed indefinitely, due in large part to the pandemic.

Federal prosecutors in Chicago have charged him with videotaping himself having sex with underage girls, and paying hush money and intimidating witnesses to cover up his crimes. That trial had been scheduled for October, but also has been postponed indefinitely.

Cook County prosecutors have charged Kelly with multiple counts of sexual assault and sexual abuse against four women years ago. The first of those trials is scheduled for September, but it's unclear if it will move forward at that time.

Minnesota prosecutors have charged him with engaging in prostitution with an underage girl. No trial date has been set in that case.

It's unclear if any of Kelly's trials will be held as currently scheduled, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

If convicted of all the charges, Kelly could face the rest of his life in prison.