Board’s decision will now head to Governor Bill Lee, and could allow for country star to more easily travel internationally
The Tennessee Board of Parole has recommended a pardon for Jelly Roll — who has spoken openly about his criminal record and time served incarcerated — following a nearly two-hour hearing Tuesday in Nashville.
The board voted unanimously to pardon the singer born Jason DeFord, with their recommendation sent to Governor Bill Lee, who must sign off on the pardon. “The reporting on Jelly Roll, that’s encouraging for his situation, but there are steps yet to happen in that case,” Lee said (via The Associated Press).
“This was incredible,” Jelly Roll said of the board’s decision. “I pray this goes through. But today was special for me, regardless.”
Jelly Roll, now 40 years old, spent time behind bars in his early 20s on drug and robbery charges. The singer has often talked about how his incarceration was a life-changing experience and inspired him to pursue music. Jelly Roll also frequently speaks to prisoners and juveniles, “teaching people how to recover the right way, through therapy and through music, through redemption and giving them real second chances,” as he told a Helping Addicts Recover Progressively program earlier this year.
“I want to be an inspiration for people who are now where I used to be — to let them know that change is truly possible,” Jelly Roll told the board on Tuesday. “One of the reasons I’m asking for your recommendation for this pardon is because I’m looking to take my message of redemption through the power of music and faith, through the rest of the world.”
Another reason Jelly Roll seeks a pardon: With his criminal record, touring internationally — while not impossible, as he recently embarked on his first tour of Canada — has been logistically difficult, telling the board that he requires “a team of lawyers and a mountain of paperwork to secure my entry into those countries.”
Jelly Roll’s parole process began in October 2024, which marked five years since his last sentence expired.
