Witness: Desperate R. Kelly offered $1M for return of video

By MICHAEL TARM
AP Legal Affairs Writer

CHICAGO (AP) — A former merchandizing agent for R. Kelly has testified that the singer offered him $1 million for the return of a VHS tape featuring Kelly. With the testimony Tuesday, prosecutors sought to persuade jurors that Kelly was desperate in the early 2000s to recover the recording that had gone missing, knowing it could land him in serious legal trouble. The charges Kelly faces in Chicago include production of child pornography, partly based on that recording. Charles Freeman testified that he did locate the tape and returned it to Kelly. A prosecutor asked Freeman why it took him two decades to give that recording to police. He said unlike Kelly, police weren’t going to give him $1 million.