Convicted sex criminal and singer R. Kelly is suing the Federal Bureau of Prisons for allegedly leaking private information about his incarceration to a popular YouTube gossip vlogger.
Kelly, 56, was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison in February of this year for sex trafficking and racketeering.
Jennifer Bonjean, an attorney for Kelly who has said in the past that he was “not a predator,” filed a lawsuit alleging that 60 federal prison officials committed suicide between July 2019 and January 2020, while he was in Metropolitan Prison. illegally gained access to the singer’s recordings at a Manhattan correctional facility.
In September 2021, a federal investigation began into the alleged leaking of a trove of illegally obtained information about the disgraced musician.
The online personality, known as Tasha K, posted a series of videos in which she sips wine and shares salacious information to her thousands of followers, quoting verbatim from Kelly’s recorded phone conversations, emails and visitor logs.
Convicted sex criminal and singer R. Kelly is suing the Federal Bureau of Prisons for allegedly leaking private information about his incarceration to a popular YouTube gossip vlogger
The lawsuit alleges that the leaks continued even after the investigation began and that an official illegally obtained Kelly’s documents as recently as August 2022, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Bonjean said the federal government “has a duty to protect.” [Kelly] and his private and sensitive information.’
She claims they “gave access to countless BOP officials.” [Kelly’s] confidential information without any legal basis.’
“The BOP’s widespread misconduct was covered up and the leak created chaos.” [Kelly’s] Personal life,” Bonjean added.
Kelly is currently serving his sentence at a facility in North Carolina.
The officer, identified in the arrest warrant as Officer A, is accused of illegally accessing Kelly’s private information during his time as an inmate at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago and passing it on to 39-year-old Tasha K, whose real name is Latasha Kebe is. She has not yet been accused of any crime.
Before Kebe goes into juicy details about Kelly’s life in one of her videos, she says: “Now I’ve told you that I messed up. ‘These are all facts, no supposedly, all facts.’
The officer, who retired in December 2019, is said to have accessed Kelly’s records more than 150 times in the six months before her departure and emailed herself a 12-page scan of his prison records.
The online personality, known as Tasha K, posted a series of videos in which she sips wine and shares salacious information to her thousands of followers, quoting verbatim from Kelly’s recorded phone conversations, emails and visitor logs
A retired US prison officer allegedly leaked information from R. Kelly’s recorded phone calls, emails and visitor logs to YouTuber Tasha K (pictured above).
Tasha also shared more details about what she believes is Kelly’s inability to read and write
The official, who retired in December 2019, is said to have accessed R. Kelly’s documents more than 150 times in six months
In a series of widely shared videos, Tasha K sips wine and reads private conversations Kelly had during her time as an inmate at the Metropolitan Correctional Center
The officer worked as a disciplinary hearing officer at a federal prison in Wisconsin, wasn’t even assigned to MCC and had “no official reason” to seek Kelly’s information, according to the 24-page arrest warrant obtained by the Tribune.
Some of the private information concerns Kelly’s contentious relationships with two girlfriends – Joycelyn Savage and Azriel Clary – who were living in his high-rise apartment at a Trump Tower residence in Chicago at the time.
Tasha K reveals in a video that Kelly allegedly had a friend bring $1,500 cash to the apartment to pay his girlfriends’ bills.
The vlogger, who is known for sipping on a huge glass of wine while sharing her gossip, says: “Yeah, there’s a phone tapped somewhere and I’m not going to tell you where it is. “I’m unplugged. I’m not going to tell you where I got the information, but just listen to the damn information, okay?’
In another video posted on December 22, 2019, titled “R. “Kelly released emails that prove he can’t read or write,” she scrolls through her phone, reading the email exchanges Kelly had with his girlfriends from prison before saying, ” . . . “These are actual conversations between them. I’m not going to post it here because it’s considered someone’s private information or whatever, but you know, my word, trust me.”
Tasha said she shared the emails to highlight Kelly’s alleged illiteracy.
The director of MCC in Chicago first reported to BOP Internal Affairs in November 2019 that Tasha K. had “disclosed sensitive law enforcement information” known only to U.S. Bureau of Prisons employees responsible for regularly monitoring his behavior at the correctional facility , the arrest warrant says.
According to the Chicago Tribune, a review of Officer A’s logins to the Bureau of Prisons’ internal information system revealed that she illegally accessed Kelly’s records 153 times between Kelly’s arrival in July 2019 and her retirement in December 2019.
Some of the private information concerns Kelly’s controversial relationships with two friends – Joycelyn Savage (pictured left) and Azriel Clary
Tasha K reveals in a video that Kelly allegedly had a friend bring $1,500 cash to the apartment to pay his girlfriends’ bills
The officer also allegedly accessed and printed Kelly’s visitor logs and payments made to and from his commission agent account, which showed who sent money to Kelly while he was in prison.
The 39-year-old Atlanta blogger, whose real name is Latasha Kebe, shares her videos as “exclusive” glimpses into R. Kelly’s entanglements. Some of their videos contain interviews with key players, while others provide information that isn’t even revealed in court.
Tasha K now has 966,000 subscribers on YouTube, where she posts on the account Unwinewithtashak.
In 2019, she got into a legal battle with Cardi B, who sued her for more than $3 million after the pop star allegedly responded to one of the blogger’s videos by telling gang members to take care of her, like TMZ reported Time.
Cardi B was successful in her legal battle in July 2021 after a judge could find no evidence that Cardi B had actually made threats.
The disgraced R&B star was accused of molesting young girls last September after a nearly six-week trial reinforced allegations that have plagued the singer of the Grammy-winning hit “I Believe I Can Fly” since the early 2000s were on the heels.
The judge told him at the time that he taught his victims that “love means enslavement and violence” and “the public must be protected.”
Judge Ann M. Donnelly imposed Kelly’s sentence in federal court in Brooklyn, despite defense attorneys asking for a sentence of 10 years or less. Prosecutors had called for a prison sentence of at least 25 years.
Donnelly told Kelly that he had left “a trail of shattered lives,” adding that “the most experienced investigators will not forget the horrors suffered by your victims.”
“These crimes were calculated and carefully planned and carried out regularly for almost 25 years,” she said. “You taught them that love meant enslavement and violence.”
Kelly, who declined to speak at his sentencing, learned of his fate after some of his accusers tearfully and furiously told the court that he had taken advantage of them and misled his fans. He was also fined $100,000.
Kelly, born Robert Sylvester Kelly, has been incarcerated at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since his trial. It was not announced where Kelly would serve his sentence.
Breon S. Peace, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said the verdict was a “significant” outcome for all victims of R. Kelly, whom he described as a “predator.”
R. Kelly pleaded not guilty to a new arraignment in 2019 before Judge Lawrence Flood at the Leighton Criminal Court Building in Chicago
The disgraced R&B star was accused of molesting young girls last September after a nearly six-week trial reinforced allegations that have plagued the singer of the Grammy-winning hit “I Believe I Can Fly” since the early 2000s were on the heels
“He committed his crimes for almost 30 years and escaped punishment – until today.”
“He committed his crimes for almost 30 years and escaped punishment – until today.”
“These are the voices of predominantly black and brown women and children that have been heard and believed.” Justice has finally been achieved. This is a victory for them, for justice and for victims of sexual assault. “Victims must be heard, perpetrators must be held accountable and women and children must be protected.”
He said he hoped the conviction showed that “it doesn’t matter how rich.” [and] A perpetrator who is “famous” should be brought to justice.
Lizzette Martinez, one of the victims who spoke earlier at the hearing, said she didn’t think Kelly’s sentence was enough, “but I’m happy with it.”
Martinez, who described herself to reporters as an “aspiring singer, a girl full of life” before she met R. Kelly and became “a sex slave.”
Gloria Allred, the victims’ attorney, said she was proud of their fight.
“They wanted the court to understand their pain,” she said. “Together they were able to combat his power by being empowered,” she added. “I’m proud of them all.”
The verdict capped a slow-motion fall for Kelly, who was adored by legions of fans and sold millions of albums even after allegations of his abuse of young girls began to circulate publicly in the 1990s.
Widespread outrage over Kelly’s sexual misconduct only came with the #MeToo reckoning and peaked after the release of the documentary “Surviving R. Kelly.”
Allegations that Kelly had abused young girls have been circulating publicly since the 1990s. He was sued in 1997 by a woman who accused him of sexual assault and sexual harassment when she was a minor. He was later charged with child pornography in connection with another girl in Chicago. A jury there acquitted him in 2008 and he settled the case.
But last year the jury convicted the “I Believe I Can Fly” hitmaker after learning how he used his entourage of managers and aides to meet girls and keep them obedient, an operation that prosecutors said amounted to a criminal enterprise equaled.
Lizzette Martinez, one of the victims who spoke earlier at the hearing, said she was a “girl full of life” before she met R. Kelly and became “a sex slave.” She added that she doesn’t think Kelly’s 30-year sentence is enough, “but I’m happy with it.”
Several accusers said Kelly subjected them to perverted and sadistic whims when they were minors.
Prosecutors said they were ordered to sign non-disclosure forms and were subjected to threats and punishments such as violent butt slaps if they violated what they called “Rob’s Rules.”
Some said they believed the video footage he took of him having sex with them would be used against them if they revealed what was going on.
According to the testimony, Kelly infected several accusers with herpes without revealing that he had a sexually transmitted disease, forced a teenager to have sex with him with a naked girl who emerged from under a boxing ring in his garage, and filmed a shameful one Video in which a victim showed her smearing feces on her face as punishment for breaking his rules.
Evidence was also presented of a fraudulent marriage plan hatched to protect Kelly after fears he had impregnated R&B phenom Aaliyah in 1994 when she was just 15 years old. Witnesses said they got married in matching tracksuits, using a license that falsely stated their age as 18; he was 27 years old at the time.
Aaliyah worked with Kelly, who wrote and produced her debut album, Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number, in 1994. She died in a plane crash in 2001 at the age of 22.
The abuse continued for years as Kelly continued to sell millions of albums.