"He crawled to the cell door and lost consciousness": R. Kelly's lawyers accuse prison staff of poisoning him

According to the documents released Monday and Tuesday, the singer was in solitary confinement at the North Carolina prison where he is serving his sentence when prison officials ordered him to take an "excessive amount of medication" on June 12 .

The next morning, the 58-year-old singer fainted and felt dizzy.

"Mr. Kelly tried to get up, but fell to the floor. He crawled to the cell door and lost consciousness ," his lawyers said.

Court documents state that Mr. Kelly was taken by ambulance to hospital, where he was treated for two days.

Asked by AFP, the US Bureau of Prisons declined to comment.

"Fanciful and theatrical" accusations

Mr. Kelly's lawyers had previously filed an emergency motion for the artist's home detention , claiming he was the target of a murder plot orchestrated by prison officials.

In their opposition to this request, US government representatives had described these accusations as "fanciful" and "theatrical."

The artist, known worldwide for his hit "I Believe I Can Fly" and his 75 million records sold, was sentenced in 2022 to 30 years in prison in New York, for having piloted for three decades a "system" of sexual exploitation of young women, including teenage girls.

He was later convicted again in Chicago of child pornography.