R. Kelly appeals to Trump to commute 31-year prison sentence

By Adegboyega Adeleye

R&B singer R. Kelly has formally appealed to United States President Donald Trump to commute his 31-year federal prison sentence after filing a request for executive clemency with the U.S. Department of Justice.

According to court records made public this week by the Office of the Pardon Attorney and first reported by The Guardian, the application is currently pending and seeks a commutation of Kelly’s sentence, not a full presidential pardon.

Kelly, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, was convicted in 2021 on racketeering charges after prosecutors said he led a criminal enterprise that recruited women and underage girls for illegal sexual activity and the production of child sexual abuse material. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

A year later, he was convicted in a separate federal case on three counts involving child sexual abuse images and three counts of child enticement. Although he received another 20-year sentence, all but one year runs concurrently with his earlier sentence, leaving him with a combined 31-year prison term.

The 59-year-old singer is serving his sentence at a federal prison in North Carolina and is not expected to be released until January 2046.

Kelly’s lawyer, Beau Brindley, has been lobbying Trump for executive clemency for more than a year. In 2025, Brindley filed an emergency motion seeking Kelly’s transfer to home detention, alleging that prison officials had conspired with a terminally ill inmate to kill the singer in exchange for an early release.

In a statement at the time, Brindley said: “The only thing that can protect Mr Kelly behind the prison walls now is the fact that now the world is watching. And we will call on the courts and President Trump to help put an end to the corruption that now threatens Mr Kelly’s life.”

However, the emergency motion was later denied by the court.

Kelly has consistently denied the allegations against him, while his request for a presidential commutation remains under review.