R Kelly has filed a formal request with the Department of Justice asking President Donald Trump to commute his 31-year prison sentence, court records revealed this week. The R&B singer, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, is currently incarcerated at a federal prison in North Carolina and is not eligible for release until January 2046.
Kelly was convicted in 2021 of racketeering and sex trafficking after leading a criminal enterprise that recruited women and underage girls for illegal sexual activity and pornography production. He received a 30-year sentence in that case. A year later, he was found guilty of three counts each of child abuse images and child enticement, earning an additional 20-year sentence. The sentences run nearly concurrently, with just one extra year added to his total punishment.
The commutation request, filed through the pardon attorney's office, is currently listed as pending. Kelly's attorney, Beau Brindley, has been publicly pressing Trump for clemency for more than a year. A commutation would reduce Kelly's sentence but would not constitute a full pardon.
In early 2025, Brindley filed an emergency motion seeking Kelly's immediate release to home detention, claiming the singer's life was in danger inside the facility. The lawyer alleged that three prison officials had coordinated with a terminally ill inmate to kill Kelly in exchange for an early release. Brindley urged the courts and President Trump at the time to intervene, stating that public scrutiny was the only factor protecting Kelly behind bars.
Kelly has denied all allegations against him throughout his legal proceedings.
Author James Rodriguez: "A convicted sex trafficker lobbying a sitting president for early release while claiming prison officials are conspiring against him is exactly the kind of murky clemency play that defines Trump's return to power."
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