R&B singer R. Kelly has formally asked United States President Donald Trump to commute his 30-year prison sentence as he continues efforts to overturn multiple federal convictions for sexual abuse and child pornography.
The clemency request was made public Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of the Pardon Attorney, which confirmed that Kelly is seeking a sentence commutation rather than a full presidential pardon.
His application is currently under review, while the supporting documents remain confidential.
Kelly’s latest move comes more than a year after his attorney, Beau Brindley, publicly appealed to President Trump to intervene, claiming the singer’s life was in danger while in federal custody. At the time, Brindley alleged that prison officials and federal authorities were involved in a conspiracy to intercept Kelly’s legal correspondence, manipulate witnesses and expose him to threats from other inmates.
During a press conference in June 2025, Brindley openly acknowledged that he intended to seek assistance directly from the White House, arguing that Kelly could not afford to wait for the normal legal process.
Despite those public appeals, no formal clemency application was filed until now. Instead, Kelly’s legal team pursued a new trial in federal court, alleging prosecutorial misconduct and claiming confidential attorney-client communications had been unlawfully obtained and used against him.
Federal prosecutors have dismissed those allegations as baseless, describing them as speculative and insufficient to justify a new trial. The request remains pending before a federal judge in Chicago.
Brindley, meanwhile, is facing separate disciplinary proceedings after Illinois legal authorities accused him of professional misconduct, including allegedly misleading courts and improperly collecting legal fees from clients. He has denied all allegations and said he remains focused on Kelly’s legal fight.
Kelly, 59, was convicted in Chicago in 2022 on child pornography charges involving explicit videos of himself and his teenage goddaughter, as well as separate counts related to sexual abuse of underage girls.
The conviction followed an earlier federal case in New York, where he was found guilty in 2021 of racketeering and sex trafficking offences. Prosecutors argued that Kelly used his celebrity status and music career to recruit and exploit young women and girls over several years.
He is currently serving his sentence at a medium-security federal correctional facility in Butner, North Carolina, and is not scheduled for release until January 2046.
Although Kelly’s chances of receiving clemency remain uncertain, President Trump has previously exercised broad executive powers to grant pardons and commute sentences, sometimes outside the traditional recommendation process.
Kelly’s application joins a growing list of high-profile clemency petitions submitted during Trump’s second term, including requests from several prominent Illinois political and criminal figures.
His legal team continues to insist that he deserves a new trial while simultaneously seeking presidential intervention to reduce his prison term
