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R. Kelly claims prison officials plotted to kill him. Judge denies his release

A judge has denied singer R. Kelly's request for furlough from prison after the convicted sex offender accused federal prison officials of plotting to murder him

District Judge Martha M. Pacold canceled Friday's scheduled arguments in Chicago, and instead issued a five-page ruling denying his emergency request to serve his time on home detention during a temporary furlough.Born Robert Sylvester Kelly, the 58-year-old Grammy-winning R&B singer is serving sentences at a prison in Butner, North Carolina, for child sex crimes and racketeering.Pacold noted that federal courts have only limited power in such cases, and one by one she examined and rejected various ways Kelly's request could be considered.“Jurisdictional limitations must be respected even where, as here, a litigant claims that the circumstances are extraordinary,” Pacold wrote. U.S. District Judge Martha M. Pacold canceled Friday's scheduled arguments in Chicago, and instead issued a five-page ruling denying his emergency request to serve his time on home detention during a temporary furlough. Born Robert Sylvester Kelly, the 58-year-old Grammy-winning R&B singer is serving sentences at a prison in Butner, North Carolina, for child sex crimes and racketeering.

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