(AllHipHop News) It looks like Demetrius Smith, a former tour manager for Robert “R.” Kelly, is set to take the stand in the singer’s forthcoming racketeering, kidnapping, forced labor, and sexual exploitation trial. However, he does not want Kelly to serve time in prison.
TMZ spoke to Smith, and he told the outlet that he has firsthand knowledge of Kelly purchasing a fake ID for Aaliyah in 1994. Recently, prosecutors additionally charged Kelly for bribing government officials to obtain a marriage license in order to marry a then-15-year-old Aaliyah. Kelly was 27 at the time.
“I have to stand on my words, but I don’t want to use the words to prosecute Robert Kelly, because I feel like there’s another part that people just don’t realize and understand about this whole thing,” said Smith. “I don’t want to be used as a witness to hurt Mr. Kelly.”
Smith appeared in Surviving R. Kelly, the Lifetime docuseries that detailed decades-old sexual and physical abuse allegations against the Grammy winner. Kelly has denied all accusations. Earlier this year, the author of Man Behind The Man: Looking from the Inside Out also claimed Kelly attempted to have sex with him in the 1990s.
