Federal prosecutors revealed charges on Wednesday against three men accused of threatening and intimidating ladies that accused R&B singer R. Kelly of abuse, including a man suspected of setting fire to a Florida automobile.
The complaint identifies Richard Arline Jr., Donnell Russell and Michael Williams as defendants, as per a press statement from the United States Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn.
“The defendants are separately charged with engaging in multiple crimes that were intended to undermine and subvert the integrity of the criminal justice system and victimize the women who have come forward with serious allegations of criminal conduct against the defendant R. Kelly,” Acting United States Attorney Seth DuCharme said in the release.
“Efforts to illegally influence pending federal cases, whether through threats of violence, intimidation, damage to property, or payments to buy a potential witness’s silence, will not be tolerated,” DuCharme said.
A lawyer for R. Kelly said that his client “had nothing to do with any of these alleged acts of the defendants.”
The Grammy-winning songwriter pleaded not guilty to dozens of state and federal sexual misconduct allegations in Illinois, Minnesota, and New York.
The charges range from sexual assault to the racketeering scheme focused on providing Kelly with girls. Kelly is also accused of having unprotected sex with a minor in 2015 without disclosing that he has herpes.
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