R. Kelly's Manager Pleads Guilty To Stalking Victim Of Singer: Feds

NEW YORK CITY — R. Kelly's former "manager" admitted in a New York City federal court that he harassed and tried to silence a woman who said the R&B singer sexually abused her, prosecutors said.

Donnell Russell, 47, pleaded guilty to an interstate stalking charge Tuesday — less than a week after he was convicted, in a separate federal case, of making a phone threat about imminent gunfire in a Manhattan theater about to show "Surviving R. Kelly," a documentary about the singer's long-standing pattern of sexual abuse.

Russell's actions in the stalking case were "reprehensible" and criminal, said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace.

“Russell used threats, harassment and intimidation in a deliberate effort to silence one of R. Kelly’s victims and prevent her voice from being heard,” he said in a statement. “When his initial effort failed, he continued his vile campaign by sending threatening messages to Jane Doe and her mother, and publishing explicit photos of the victim on the internet before and after Kelly was indicted."

The back-to-back-to-back convictions of Kelly and Russell, the singer's self-described "manager" and friend, arguably show Kelly's fame no longer shields him and his associates from legal consequences.

For decades, R. Kelly stood atop the music industry, even as disturbing accusations of sexual abuse from young girls and women trailed him from his hometown of Chicago.

But the protective wall of fame and fortune around Kelly finally began to crack as the "Surviving R. Kelly" documentary swayed public opinion against him just as federal prosecutors in New York City marshaled a sprawling sex trafficking and racketeering case against him.

Jurors eventually found Kelly guilty of nine counts and a judge in June sentenced him to 30 years in prison.

As Kelly's life and career collapsed, prosecutors said Russell tried to protect him.

Russell not only made a phone threat that forced the evacuation of a Manhattan theater showing the documentary, he also used threats to harass and intimidate a woman who planned to reveal trauma unleashed by Kelly and his associates, prosecutors said.

After the woman filed a civil lawsuit against Kelly, Russell threatened to reveal sexually explicit photographs of her, authorities said.

"Pull the plug or you will be exposed," Russell texted the woman and her mother, prosecutors said.

Russell eventually posted the explicit photographs online and during a livestreamed YouTube interview, authorities said.

Jurors in the theater case last week found Russell guilty of threatening physical harm through interstate communication.

And Russell's guilty plea Tuesday carries up to five years in prison. His sentencing is scheduled for a Nov. 17 hearing.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.