Latin King gang member, 39, who says he beat up R. Kelly is sentenced to life in prison for racketeering conviction that involved 1999 killing of two at their Indiana business
A convicted gang member who said he beat up jailed R&B singer R. Kelly in a Chicago cell in August has been sentenced to life in prison for a racketeering conviction that involved two 1999 murders.
A federal judge in Hammond, Indiana, sentenced Jeremiah Farmer, 39, on Tuesday during a hearing in which Farmer represented himself and appeared combative, at times, raising his voice and frequently interrupting the judge.
Farmer, a Latin King street gang member, had faced a mandatory life sentence following his conviction last year on conspiracy to commit racketeering activity in a drug-related case that involved the killings of Marion Lowry, 74, and Harvey Siegers, 67.
A federal judge in Hammond, Indiana, sentenced Jeremiah Farmer, 39, on Tuesday
Lowry and Siegers were beaten to death in June 1999 with a hammer at their Hammond business, Calumet Auto Rebuilders - a business where an indictment stated that employees 'had repeatedly had conflicts with members of the Latin Kings,' the Chicago Tribune reported.
Farmer made headlines by claiming in court records that he attacked Kelly on Aug. 26 in downtown Chicago's Metropolitan Correctional Center - a federal detention center - because he wanted to shed light on wrongdoing by the government in his own criminal case.
According to a motion filed by the singer's lawyers earlier in the month, Kelly, 53, is suffering 'significant physical and psychological injuries' stemming from the August attack, which his lawyers claim could have been 'encouraged' by staffers at the facility.
Farmer made headlines by claiming in court records that he attacked Kelly on Aug. 26 because he wanted to shed light on wrongdoing by the government in his own criminal case
Farmer was able to slip away from an employee at the center, enter a cell and repeatedly hit Kelly in the head, according to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons report. A security officer used pepper spray to stop the attack.
Farmer was able to slip away from an employee at the center, enter a cell and repeatedly hit Kelly in the head at Chicago's Metropolitan Correctional Center
They write that the footage shows Farmer was able to 'roam a great distance' away from the guards and 'no one at the MCC raised a finger to stop Mr. Farmer from attacking Mr. Kelly until after Mr. Farmer was well into beating.'
'An unresolved issue remains as to whether MCC personnel encouraged, and then allowed, a beating of Mr. Kelly to take place,' the attorneys added.
'That alone merits an evidentiary hearing.'
Kelly, 53, faces several dozen counts of state and federal sexual misconduct charges in Illinois, Minnesota and New York, from sexual assault to heading a racketeering scheme aimed at supplying him with girls.
The Grammy Award winning singer has denied ever abusing anyone.
