News: R. Kelly drops challenge to guardhouse lawsuit
R. Kelly has decided to end his legal challenge to a lawsuit over the building of a guard shack on his property outside of Chicago.
The village of Olympia Fields had sued the singer for beginning construction on the guardhouse against town rules, and without first obtaining the proper permits. Kelly challenged the lawsuit, claiming an exception to their "no guardhouse" rule should be made in his case because he's "a nationally known, Grammy Award-winning recording artist."
But the Grammy-winning Chicago native, whose real name is Robert Kelly, has decided to drop his legal challenge and pay the community more than $20,000 to cover attorney fees and code-violation fines, reports the Associated Press.
"Robert Kelly wants to be a good neighbor," said John Touhy, his attorney.
The guardhouse in question has been torn down, and the village has, in turn, dropped its lawsuit. Village President Linzy Jones, also one of Kelly's neighbors, says their legal action was never personal, and even gave the artist props for his recent Christmas decorations.
"He had streams of lights running up and down the roof of this huge house, lights on the trees, all kinds of stuff," Jones told AP. "It was spectacular."
Kelly is currently awaiting trial in Cook County on 14 counts of child pornography after prosecutors said he videotaped himself having sex with an underage girl. He has pleaded not guilty.
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