Lucky Obukohwo, Reporting
R&B singer R. Kelly has formally petitioned United States President Donald Trump for clemency, seeking a commutation of the 31-year prison sentence he is serving following convictions on racketeering, sex trafficking and child sexual abuse-related offences.
According to a report by The Guardian on Thursday, newly released records from the Office of the Pardon Attorney and quoted by Truth Live News Media show that Kelly, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, submitted a clemency application to the US Department of Justice.
The documents indicate that the request is currently under review and seeks a commutation of his sentence rather than a full presidential pardon.
If granted, the commutation would reduce Kelly’s prison term but would not overturn his convictions.
Kelly, 59, was convicted in 2021 of racketeering after prosecutors accused him of leading a criminal enterprise that recruited women and underage girls for illegal sexual activity and the production of pornography.
He was sentenced to 30 years’ imprisonment.
In 2022, he was convicted in a separate case on three counts relating to child sexual abuse material and three counts of child enticement.
He received a 20-year sentence, most of which runs concurrently with his earlier sentence, extending his total prison term by one year.
He is currently serving the combined 31-year sentence at a federal prison in North Carolina and is not eligible for release until January 2046.
Kelly’s lawyer, Beau Brindley, has been lobbying Trump for more than a year to grant his client clemency.
Last year, Brindley filed an emergency motion seeking Kelly’s release to home detention, alleging that the singer’s life was in danger after claiming prison officials were involved in a plot to have him killed by another inmate.
The court, however, dismissed the application.
Kelly has consistently denied the allegations against him.
