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Tennessee's politician pardoned state prima Jelly Roll connected Thursday for his transgression past successful the state, acknowledging the Nashville native's agelong roadworthy backmost from drugs and situation done soul-searching, songwriting and advocacy for 2nd chances.
The rapper-turned-singer, whose ineligible sanction is Jason Deford, has spoken for years astir his redemption arc earlier divers audiences, from radical serving clip successful correctional centers to performance crowds and adjacent successful grounds earlier Congress.
Republican Gov. Bill Lee issued his pardon aft friends and civic leaders of the Grammy-nominated instrumentalist joined successful an outpouring of support.
He has said a pardon would marque it easier for him to question internationally for performance tours and to execute Christian missionary enactment without requiring burdensome paperwork.
Jelly Roll performs during iHeartRadio Hot 99.5's Jingle Ball astatine Capital One Arena connected Dec. 16, 2025, successful Washington, D.C.
Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for iHeartRadio
He was 1 of 33 radical to person pardons Thursday from Lee, who for years has issued clemency decisions astir the Christmas season. Lee said Jelly Roll's exertion underwent the aforesaid monthslong thorough reappraisal arsenic different applicants. The authorities parole committee gave a nonbinding, unanimous proposal for Jelly Roll's pardon successful April.
"His communicative is remarkable, and it's a redemptive, almighty story, which is what you look for and what you anticipation for," Lee told reporters, adding helium hopes to conscionable Jelly Roll for the archetypal clip soon.
Beginning astatine the property of 14, Jelly Roll was successful and retired of jailhouse for astir a decennary for convictions including aggravated robbery, shoplifting, cause possession and cause dealing.
In January 2024, "CBS Sunday Morning" interviewed Jelly Roll wrong the Metro-Davidson County Detention Facility successful Nashville, wherever helium had erstwhile been an inmate. At the time, Jelly Roll had conscionable been nominated for 2 Grammys.
"There was a clip successful my beingness wherever I genuinely thought … this was it," helium told "CBS Sunday Morning." "And past coming here, you know, conscionable aft getting nominated for 2 Grammys, it conscionable hits different…I didn't deliberation I'd get emotional, to beryllium honest.
He told "CBS Sunday Morning" helium wrote hundreds of songs portion successful jail.
Unlike caller high-profile national pardons, which fto radical disconnected the hook for prison, a pardon successful Tennessee serves arsenic a connection of forgiveness for idiosyncratic who has already completed a situation condemnation and been released. Pardons connection a way to get definite civilian rights restored, specified arsenic the close to vote, though determination are immoderate limitations nether authorities law, and the politician tin specify the terms.
Jelly Roll broke into state euphony with the 2023 medium "Whitsitt Chapel" and crossover songs similar "Need a Favor." He has won aggregate CMT Awards, a CMA Award and besides picked up 7 vocation Grammy nominations, 3 of them recently.
Much of his enactment has go associated with overcoming adversity, similar the opus "Winning Streak" that tells the communicative of someone's archetypal time sober. Or the direct-and-to-the-point, "I Am Not Okay."
In making his lawsuit to the parole board, Jelly Roll said helium archetypal fell successful emotion with songwriting portion successful custody, stating it began arsenic a therapeutic passionateness task that "would extremity up changing my beingness successful ways that I ne'er dreamed imaginable."
Beyond his sold-out shows, he's brought his communicative to the Senate, where helium testified successful January 2024 astir the dangers of fentanyl, describing his drug-dealing younger aforesaid arsenic "the uneducated antheral successful the room playing chemist with drugs I knew perfectly thing about."
"I was a portion of the problem," helium told lawmakers astatine the time. "I americium present present lasting arsenic a antheral that wants to beryllium a portion of the solution."
Jelly Roll's astir superior convictions see a robbery astatine property 17 and cause charges astatine 23. In the archetypal case, a pistillate acquaintance helped Jelly Roll and 2 equipped accomplices bargain $350 from radical successful a location successful 2002. Because the victims knew the pistillate acquaintance, she and Jelly Roll were arrested close away. Jelly Roll was unarmed, and was sentenced to 1 twelvemonth successful situation positive probation.
In different run-in 2008, constabulary recovered marijuana and ace cocaine successful his car, starring to 8 years of court-ordered supervision.
Friends and civic leaders backed the pardon application, citing Jelly Roll's transformation.
Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall, who runs Nashville's jail, wrote that Jelly Roll had an awakening successful 1 of the jails helium managed. Live Nation Entertainment CEO and President Michael Rapino cited Jelly Roll's donations from his performances to charities for at-risk youth.
The parole committee began considering Jelly Roll's pardon exertion successful October 2024, which marks the state's five-year timeline for eligibility aft his condemnation expired. Prominent Nashville lawyer David Raybin represents Jelly Roll successful the pardon case.
Lee's bureau said nary 1 was pardoned Thursday who had a homicide oregon a sex-related conviction, oregon for immoderate transgression committed arsenic an big against a minor.
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