Several of R. Kelly's victims filed a petition seeking to collect the more than $9 million still owed after they won a civil judgment against the disgraced singer.
The petition, filed on Jan. 31 in New York County Supreme Court, names Kelly's accusers Lizzette Martinez, Lisa Van Allen, and Faith Rodgers as petitioners, along with Kelly Rogers, Roderick Gartrell, and Gem Pratts.
In August 2023, a judgment was entered against Kelly totaling $10.3 million, which was to be paid to the petitioners, the court filing states.
But, the petitioners claim they have not received full payment from Kelly. The singer was sentenced to 20 years in prison on federal child sex convictions in Chicago in February 2023, and 30 years in New York on federal racketeering and sex trafficking convictions in 2022.
The filing says that in December lawyers for the petitioners received a check for a little more than $200,000 and that it only "paid off approximately 82 days of interest on Kelly’s liability under the Judgment."
"After applying the $200,077.79 recovered by petitioners ... the balance of the judgment as to Kelly is therefore $9,937,314.38, with interest," the filing states.
An attorney for Kelly called the judgment "outrageous."
"This outrageous default judgment was entered contrary to court rules, legal precedent, and basic principles of fairness. A New York court conducted a hearing in Mr. Kelly’s absence and without his knowledge while he was incarcerated in Chicago, awarding a staggering $10,000,000 to plaintiffs for conduct committed by someone else," Bonjean Law Group said in a statement.
"A pattern has emerged from courts across the country deciding that Mr. Kelly is not entitled to the same Due Process rights as everyone else. It’s getting old. No court would have been that cavalier with the money of a white man. Our appeal is pending on this issue."
Besides Kelly, the filing names Donnell Russell, Universal Music Publishing, Inc. and other companies as defendants. It’s not clear if Russell has obtained an attorney. Universal Music Publishing could not immediately be reached for comment.
