Federal prosecutors announced that they have arrested and charged three men in connection with threatening and intimidating women who have accused the R&B singer R Kelly of abuse.
Prosecutors say one of the men even set fire to one of the accuser’s vehicles.
Richard Arline Jr is accused of “[attempting] to illegally influence the cooperation and testimony of an alleged victim in the Kelly case” by paying a woman $500,000 “to keep her from cooperating with the government.”
Donnell Russell is accused of threatening to leak sexually explicit photographs of an alleged victim and to reveal her sexual history if she went ahead with her lawsuit against Kelly.
Michael Williams is accused of setting fire to an SUV of a woman’s home in Florida. The vehicle was left “heavily damaged.” Authorities also discovered internet searches for “the detonation properties of fertilizer and diesel fuel, witness intimidation and witness tampering and countries that do not have extradition with the United States.”
Kelly’s attorney, Steven Greenberg, denies that Kelly is involved.
“Without question, Robert Kelly had nothing to do with any of these alleged acts by those charged. He hasn’t attempted to intimidate anyone, or encouraged anyone else to do so,” Greenberg wrote.