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Tennessee governor pardons country star jelly Roll,
The rapper turned singer, whose legal name is Jason Deford, has spoken about his redemption arc over the years in recovery centers, at concerts and even before Congress.
Republican Governor Bill Lee issued a Forgiveness Acknowledging the Nashville native’s long journey to the singer’s criminal past in the state drugs And prison Through introspection, songwriting, and advocacy for second chances.
Jelly Roll’s convictions included robbery and drug crimes. He has said that amnesty would make it easier for him to travel internationally for concert tours and do Christian missionary work without the need for heavy paperwork.
He was one of 33 people on Thursday to receive clemency from Lee, who has issued clemency decisions around the Christmas season over the years.
Lee said Jelly Roll’s application, like other applicants, went through months of intense review. The state parole board made a non-binding, unanimous recommendation for Jelly Roll’s pardon in April.
“His story is remarkable, and it’s a redemptive, powerful story, one that you look for and one that you hope for,” Lee told reporters. He said he hopes to meet Jelly Roll for the first time soon.
Unlike recent high-profile federal pardons that free people from prison sentences, a pardon in Tennessee serves as a statement of forgiveness for a person who has already served a prison sentence and has been released.
Clemency provides a path to restore some civil rights, such as the right to vote, although there are some limits under state law, and the governor can specify conditions.
Jelly Roll entered country music with crossover songs such as “Whitsit Chapel” and “Need a Favor” on the 2023 album. He has won multiple CMT Awards, a CMA Award and has also received seven career Grammy nominations, three of which are recent.
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Much of his work deals with overcoming adversity, such as the song “Winning Streak” which tells the sober story of one’s first day. Or simply, “I’m not okay.”
“When I first started doing this, I was just telling the story of my broken self,” he told The Associated Press in a recent interview. “By the time I went through this, I realized that my story was many people’s story. So now I’m not telling my story. I’m pulling it straight from the cracks of people whose stories have never been told.”
Speaking before the parole board, Jelly Roll said he first fell in love with songwriting while in custody, saying it began as a therapeutic passion project that would “change my life in ways I never imagined.”
In addition to his sold-out shows, he brought his testimony to the U.S. Senate, where he testified about the dangers of fentanyl, describing his youthful drug-dealing self as “an uneducated guy in the kitchen playing chemist with drugs I knew nothing about.”
“I was part of the problem,” he told lawmakers at the time. “I stand here now as a person who wants to be part of the solution.”
Jelly Roll’s most serious convictions include robbery at age 17 and drug charges at age 23. In the first case, a female acquaintance helped Jelly Roll and two armed accomplices steal $350 from people at a home in 2002.
Since the victims were known to the female acquaintance, he and Jelly Roll were immediately arrested. Jelly Roll was unarmed, and was sentenced to one year in jail and probation.
In another case in 2008, police found marijuana and crack cocaine in his car, leading to eight years of court-ordered surveillance.
Friends and civic leaders supported 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 in one of the jails he manages. Live Nation Entertainment CEO and President Michael Rapinoe cited donations to at-risk youth from Jelly Roll’s performance.
The parole board began considering Jelly Roll’s pardon application in October 2024, which reflects the state’s five-year deadline for eligibility after his sentence ends. Prominent Nashville attorney David Rabin represents Jelly Roll in the pardon case.
Lee’s office said Thursday no one was pardoned who had a murder or sex-related conviction, or who was convicted of a crime committed as an adult against a minor.