Indictment Accuses R. Kelly of Marrying Aaliyah By Bribing Official for Fake ID

A new indictment accuses disgraced singer R. Kelly of using a bribe to get the paperwork needed to marry the late singer Aaliyah when she was 15 and he was 27, according to a report on Thursday by The New York Times. This is on top of the 13-count indictment filed in Chicago back in July on charges of child pornography. Kelly is also facing criminal charges in Minnesota.

Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn say Kelly bribed a government employee in Illinois on Aug. 30, 1994, to get a fake ID for the teenaged singer. The fraudulent ID let the pair get a marriage license in Illinois, which would later be annulled.

Earlier this year, Kelly’s attorney Steven Greenberg told Good Morning America that Kelly did not know Aaliyah’s true age when they got married. On Thursday, Greenberg told the Times that this indictment “does not appear to materially alter the landscape.”

The marriage license is dated one day later, Aug. 31, 1994. That’s the same year Aaliyah’s debut album “Age Ain’t Nothing but a Number,” which was produced by Kelly, was released.

Last month, one of Kelly’s live-in girlfriends, Joycelyn Savage, called herself one of his “victims.” Kelly has denied all allegations of sexual and psychological abuse.