R Kelly Trial: Jurors Hear From 'Fixer' In Alleged Conspiracy

Jurors in R. Kelly’s federal child pornography trial on Tuesday heard  testimony from Charles Freeman, a key prosecution witness who described a real-life cloak-and-dagger scheme orchestrated by Kelly and his associates to recover video footage of the R&B superstar allegedly sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl, according to The Chicago Tribune.

Freeman was paid hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years in exchange for getting at least one of the tapes back, he said.

The plot as described by Freeman spanned almost a decade, and unfolded in cities from Chicago to Kansas City and Atlanta, at Kelly’s music studio, concert venues and even the singer’s sprawling Olympia Fields mansion, where Freeman said he was told to strip naked and get in a pool to prove he wasn’t wearing a wire.

Attorneys for Kelly and his co-defendants Derrel McDavid and Milton “June” Brown are slated to begin cross-examining Freeman on Wednesday. It should be lively: In opening statements last week, defense lawyers told jurors Freeman is a con artist, an extortionist, a liar and a criminal.

Freeman is testifying under an immunity agreement from prosecutors. His testimony is key to the allegations that Kelly, McDavid and Brown conspired to cover up Kelly’s misdeeds while he was being investigated and prosecuted for child pornography.

Throughout his three hours on the stand, Freeman spoke in blunt tones about the business he was involved in, acknowledging that brought along bodyguards as “muscle” to meetings with Kelly’s associates and spent nine of years of his life obsessed with “getting that money” that had been promised to him.

Kelly, meanwhile, was animated as he listened to the testimony, leaning over to whisper to his attorneys and appearing to chuckle at one point as Freeman described the way they became friends in the early 1990s after a misunderstanding about a jacket.

Their friendship began while Freeman was doing merchandising for a tour that featured Kelly’s first group, Public Announcement, he said. He said they bonded over basketball and “really became cool and friends.” Then, in 2001, he got a call from Kelly, who said he wanted Freeman to “recover some tapes.

Not long afterward, he heard from McDavid and private investigator Jack Palladino, he testified, who said there would be a “reward” if he could get the stolen video back. At the time of the phone calls, he did not know what was on the tape, he said.

“Derrel said it was a performance tape they really needed to recover, and if I would recover the tape they would take care of me,” Freeman said. “Those were his exact words.”

Kelly, 55, is charged with 13 counts of production of child pornography, conspiracy to produce child pornography and conspiracy to obstruct justice. Some of the counts carry a mandatory minimum of 10 years behind bars if convicted, while others have ranges of five to 20 years in prison. Prosecutors are also seeking a personal money forfeiture of $1.5 million from Kelly.