R. Kelly’s former manager Donnell Russell was sentenced on Monday to a year in federal prison for calling in a shooting threat to end the airing of the Surviving R. Kelly series.
Russell admitted to the judge in court that he had “made bad judgments” while working with R. Kelly. “I’m not a horrible person,” Russell said per AP News.
Russell made repeated phone calls to the Manhattan theater that day, threatening legal action and claiming the documentary violated copyright laws. When the premiere was not halted, he then called back, this time disguising his voice, claiming somebody was planning to shoot up the event.
“The call was short. The defendant was to the point. And he was terrifying. Someone at the event had a gun and was going to shoot up the place,” Assistant US Attorney Lara Pomerantz told the court.
Russell was convicted on one count of threatening physical harm by interstate communication, but acquitted on a related conspiracy count and faced a maximum of five years in prison.
