R. Kelly is facing a new charge from federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York: the accusation that he bribed a public official in Illinois to create a fake ID for “Jane Doe #1” so he could marry the late singer Aaliyah Haughton in 1994.

This comes 25 years after Kelly’s relationship with the then-15-year-old Aaliyah was first exposed.

Kelly was her mentor and produced her debut album, Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number, while he was 27.

The wedding took place in Illinois, and the marriage certificate claimed Aaliyah was 18.

Within months, it was annulled, but speculation about the relationship between the two persisted.

Kelly described their relationship as “deep friends” and has avoided further comment. Aaliyah died in a plane crash in 2001 at age 22.

The forged ID allegation is not new. In Jim DeRogatis’ recent book Soulless: The Case Against R. Kelly, Demetrius Smith, Kelly’s former tour manager and personal assistant, claimed to have obtained a fake ID for Aaliyah.

He repeated the assertion during an on-screen interview in the Lifetime docuseries Surviving R. Kelly, which aired in January.

However, Kelly has not faced criminal charges related to the marriage until now.

The charge is part of a sweeping set of federal indictments filed against Kelly in July by prosecutors in New York and Illinois.

Prosecutors have accused Kelly of abusing women and girls for over two decades, including kidnapping, forced labor, and sending child pornography across state lines.

Kelly has denied all allegations, and there are now 19 federal charges against him, as well as separate sexual assault charges in Illinois and ongoing civil lawsuits.

Charging Kelly with racketeering allows prosecutors to reach back to any point in the existence of the alleged criminal enterprise.

While 25-year-old allegations would usually be outside of legal statutes of limitations, they are still included in this case.

In a January interview with Good Morning America, Kelly’s lawyer, Steve Greenberg, dismissed the controversy surrounding the marriage.

He claimed Aaliyah did not claim to be 15 and had to lie about her age to get married.

Greenberg added that Kelly had “no idea” of Aaliyah’s true age when they wed.

The allegation that Kelly bribed an official to obtain a fake ID for Aaliyah contradicts Greenberg’s claim.

The wedding certificate, which was recently obtained by Vibe magazine, lists Aaliyah’s age as 18, but the marriage date is listed as 8/31/1994.

The newly filed charge against Kelly alleges that he and others in his circle bribed an official in Illinois on the day before the wedding to create a fake ID for “Jane Doe #1,” who is presumed to be Aaliyah.

The marriage has long been a point of contention for Kelly.

In a 2016 interview with GQ, he said that he would never discuss his relationship with Aaliyah out of respect for her mother, who was sick at the time, and her father, who had passed away.

“But I can tell you,” he added, “I loved her, I can tell you she loved me, we was very close.”

Barry Hankerson managed Kelly for much of the 1990s and was also Aaliyah’s uncle. The marriage certificate lists Hankerson as one of the witnesses.

The indictment adds another layer to the allegations against Kelly, which have been building for years.

The release of Surviving R. Kelly earlier this year reignited interest in the allegations against the singer, prompting calls for boycotts of his music and for more women to come forward with their stories.