Lawyer Complains Only One Girlfriend Can Visit R. Kelly

R. Kelly's lawyers offered several reasons Monday why he should be released on bond, but the one grabbing the most attention involves his girlfriends. In a motion filed in federal court in New York, attorney Steven Greenberg complained that Kelly was being held in conditions so strict that only one girlfriend at a time could visit, the Chicago Tribune reports. "Presently, he is only allowed one unrelated person to visit," Greenberg said. "In other words, although he lives and has lived with two lady friends, only one of them is allowed to be on his visiting list, and after 90 days he is required to switch. No other friends or professional colleagues are allowed to visit. That is not right."

Greenberg said Kelly's conditions of confinement are "stifling" and he is also not receiving proper care for health issues including "numbness in his hand, anxiety, and an untreated hernia," the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Kelly, who is awaiting racketeering and sexual abuse trials in three different jurisdictions, has been at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in downtown Chicago since his arrest in July. Prosecutors told a federal judge he should be held without bond because he had directed others to threaten potential witnesses. Greenberg said Monday that no evidence has been produced to support the accusation. (More R. Kelly stories.)