Lawyers for R. Kelly are alleging the singer overdosed last week on medication given to him by prison staff.

The “Ignition” singer’s legal team, in a June 17 filing obtained by USA TODAY, claims that after being placed in solitary confinement, prison staff provided him an “overdose quantity” of medication on June 12 compared to his normal anxiety and sleep medication dosages, leading to his hospitalization Friday, June 13. According to the filing, Kelly was forcibly removed from Duke University Hospital in Durham, North Carolina, against medical advice.

The Bureau of Prisons declined to comment on “pending litigation.”

Born Robert Kelly, the 58-year-old singer has been serving a 30-year sentence for racketeering and sex trafficking since 2022. He is serving his sentence in the Federal Correctional Institute facility in Butner, North Carolina.

R. Kelly's lawyer seeks Trump pardon, claims singer ‘fears that he might be killed’

The lawyers say leading up to the alleged overdose, Kelly was placed in solitary confinement on June 10 “against his will,” shortly after his team filed an emergency motion for his release from prison last week. In that motion, Kelly’s team claimed three Bureau of Prisons officials allegedly devised a plot to have him killed by another inmate.

Then, in the early morning hours of June 13, according to the filing, Kelly woke up feeling “faint” and “dizzy.”

“He started to see black spots in his vision. Mr. Kelly tried to get up, but fell to the ground,” the updated motion stated. “He crawled to the door of the cell and lost consciousness.”

Onsite prison medical staff could not help him, so he was transported to Duke University Hospital by ambulance, the filing continued. He was hospitalized for two days

Kelly’s team was only able to speak to him late June 16, after a previous call was canceled “without explanation,” they wrote.

In a June 17 statement, Beau Brindley, Kelly’s lawyer, reiterated the seriousness of the team’s claims.

“For those who responded with skepticism about whether Bureau of Prisons officers would really engage in a plot to kill R. Kelly, those prison officials have now removed all doubt,” he said. “They want R. Kelly dead before the crimes committed against him in his cases are exposed.”

The lawyer, who has already made a plea to President Donald Trump to pardon the singer, emphasized the “need” for this “form of justice.”

He continued: “It is this immediate and imminent threat that compels us again to seek the intervention of President Trump. The courts do not move as quickly as the efforts to kill this man. President Trump may be the only person who can save the life of R. Kelly.”

R. Kelly's lawyers say singer was denied medical treatment for blood clots

The filing also claimed that Kelly was removed from Duke University Hospital against medical advice, as he was set to receive surgery on an ongoing blood clot issue. The motion stated the hospital would need to keep him for two weeks for the surgery. Officers assigned to Kelly then contacted FCI Butner officials. “Within an hour, officers with guns came into his hospital room and removed” the R&B singer to return him to solitary confinement, the filing said.

His "life is in jeopardy right now because the Bureau of Prisons denied him necessary surgery to clear clots from his lungs,” the lawyers wrote. “He could die from this condition, and they are letting it happen.”

Federal prosecutors call claims ‘fanciful’ and ‘theatrical’

In the government’s response to Kelly’s emergency motions, federal prosecutors have called his claims “fanciful” and “theatrical.”

In addition to logistical issues with the motions – including being filed at the wrong court and location, using the wrong kind of case and not following proper procedure – federal prosecutors said Kelly’s motion “makes a mockery of the harm suffered by Kelly’s victims” and they accused him of being a “master manipulator.”

If Kelly were to be released from prison to home confinement, despite “separate 30-year and 20-year sentences” handed down by New York City and Chicago courts, “every convicted murderer, rapist, and terrorist will have a newfound shot at freedom,” the response continued.

Kelly is serving his sentence in North Carolina after his 2021 and 2022 convictions for racketeering, sex trafficking, child pornography and enticement. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison in a New York City federal court in 2022 and 20 years in a Chicago federal court in 2023, to be served concurrently. One year from the latter sentence is set to be served consecutively. (US Today: Text, Excluding headline)