The Tennessee Board of Parole on Tuesday recommended a pardon for country music star Jelly Roll, a Nashville native who has spoken openly about his criminal history and what it has taken to overcome it. The board’s action leaves the final decision on a pardon up to Gov. Bill Lee.
The board issued its nonbinding recommendation unanimously after a hearing that lasted about an hour and 45 minutes with several witnesses, including Nashville Sheriff Daron Hall, advocating for the 40-year-old musician named Jason DeFord. One board member recused themselves from voting.
The tattooed rapper-turned-country singer broke out in country with his 2023 album “Whitsitt Chapel” and crossover songs like “Need a Favor.” Focusing on songs about his redemption after spending time in juvenile detention facilities, Jelly Roll has won multiple CMT Awards, a CMA Award and earned four Grammy nominations, including for new artist of the year.
“This was incredible,” he said after the vote, according to the board’s recording of the meeting. “I pray this goes through. But today was special for me, regardless.”
His most serious convictions include a robbery at age 17 and drug charges at 23. In the first case, a female acquaintance helped Jelly Roll and two other young men enter a house in 2002. Both of the others were carrying guns, although Jelly Roll was unarmed. They demanded money, and received $350 and a wallet with no money in it. Because the victims knew the female acquaintance, she and Jelly Roll were arrested right away. He was sentenced to serve 1 year in prison and additional time on probation.
Later, in 2008, police on patrol saw him quickly shut his car trunk as they approached. The officers said they smelled marijuana and searched the trunk, finding both marijuana and crack cocaine. He was sentenced to 8 years of court-ordered supervision.
He also has two misdemeanor offenses for driving without a license and possession of drug paraphernalia.
These days, he often visits jails and rehabilitation centers before performing concerts. He has bought restaurants out for the day to feed people who are homeless and played basketball with kids at a youth center the same day that he performed in Winnipeg. He said he generally doesn’t seek out news coverage when he makes these visits.
One of the reasons Jelly Roll gave for needing a pardon is to be able to travel to Canada to perform, which his criminal record makes difficult. Currently, he would need to apply for a special permit that can include long wait times for a decision, according to a letter from an immigration attorney submitted with his clemency packet.
He said he would use the pardon for much more than going on tour, though.
“I’ll still be using this same pardon, God willing, to go do missionary work in my 50s and 60s,” he said.
Due to his criminal record, he told the board that every time he travels it “takes a team of lawyers and a mountain of paperwork to secure my entry into those countries.” He said he recently was able to make his first tour in Canada and took his first trip to the United Kingdom, where he spoke about a rehabilitation program.
A pardon is a statement of forgiveness by the state for a crime or crimes. Applicants are not eligible until they are five years past the date that their sentence expired in Tennessee. The parole board began considering Jelly Roll’s pardon application in October 2024.
Lee, a Republican, has issued more than 90 pardons since taking office in 2019, all of them since 2021.
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