Federal prosecutors announced charges Wednesday against three men accused of threatening and intimidating women who have accused R&B singer R. Kelly of abuse, including one man suspected of setting fire to a vehicle in Florida.
A longtime friend of the indicted singer offered to pay a victim $500,000 to keep her from cooperating in Kelly's prosecution, authorities said, while a manager and adviser of Kelly threatened to release sexually explicit photographs of a woman who sued Kelly.
The Grammy-award winning musician has denied ever abusing anyone and has pleaded not guilty to dozens of state and federal sexual misconduct charges in Illinois, Minnesota, and New York.
The charges range from sexual assault to heading a racketeering scheme aimed at supplying Kelly with girls. Kelly also is accused of having unprotected sex with a girl in 2015 without disclosing he had herpes.
Prosecutors described a third man accused of intimidating witnesses as being related to a former Kelly publicist. They said Michael Williams, 37, of Valdosta, Georgia, traveled to Florida in June and set fire to an SUV parked outside a residence where one of Kelly's victims was staying.
Williams also conducted 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," authorities said in a news release.
A message was sent to Williams' attorney seeking comment.
The Tokyo Games have arrived at last, after a yearlong delay. They're a multinational showcase of the finest athletes of a world fragmented by disease.
Jill and Carlo preview this weekend's Olympic events, a sobering warning from the CDC, the NFL trades the carrot for the stick when it comes to vaccines, and more.
Cheddar recs the Olympic Opening Ceremony, 'Tig Notaro: Drawn,' 'Bosch' Season 7, and 'Flatbush Misdemeanors' for streaming the weekend of July 16, 2021.
The Canada goose isn't native to Long Island, New York but now flocks of them are permanent residents. While most are migratory, some have made their homes in the area especially as more wild areas turn into green spaces for parks, housing developments, and businesses. Long Island Geese Control has found a solution to get rid of the birds without using chemicals or harming them: They send in specially trained border collies to chase them away. President and CEO Bill Alemaghides joined Cheddar News to tell us more.
American swimmer Becca Meyers has pulled out of the Paralympics because she says the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee won’t let her bring her mother to Tokyo as her personal care assistant.
President Biden predicts full vaccine approval is coming "soon," an inside view from a hospital in an under-vaccinated state, the Olympics already technically underway and Alexa gets a new male voice, if you want it.
Smoke and ash from massive wildfires in the American West shrouded the sky and led to air quality alerts on parts of the East Coast.
U.S. life expectancy fell by a year and a half in 2020, the largest one-year decline since World War II. The decrease for both Black Americans and Hispanic Americans was even worse: three years.
Fireworks burst over the Brisbane River and high-rise buildings across the city as people cheered, danced and celebrated the confirmation of Brisbane's bid to host the 2032 Summer Olympics.
Jill and Carlo wrap up the big space news after Jeff Bezos' successful trip, more setbacks for the J&J vaccine, an air quality alert for the East Coast, Giannis brings home the trophy and a broadcasting first in the MLB.
