R. Kelly Asks Trump to Commute 30-Year Prison Sentence. White House Calls it ‘Random Submission’

Convicted sex offender R. Kelly has filed a formal request asking President Trump to commute his 30-year prison sentence, according to records visible on the Justice Department’s website.

The clemency request was made public this week, the Chicago Tribune first reported. It’s listed online as a matter that’s pending with the White House Office of the Pardon Attorney.

The Justice Department’s website identifies Kelly as seeking only a commutation, which would reduce his sentence, rather than a full pardon. Any documents he submitted in support of the request were not made public.

“This appears to be a random submission through the public portal which anyone can submit an application through,” a White House official tells Rolling Stone. “The submission of a pardon request should not be interpreted to mean anything other than an individual has chosen to submit a request. The team that reviews clemency requests at the White House is not tracking this request at this time. The White House has a thorough review process for all clemency requests, with the President being the ultimate decider.”

Kelly, 59, was convicted on all counts at a 2021 trial in federal court in Brooklyn. Jurors found him guilty of racketeering, sex trafficking, sexual exploitation of children, kidnapping, and forced labor.

In June 2025, his lawyer, Beau B. Brindley, filed a motion for a new trial that also asked for Kelly’s immediate release on bond due to health concerns and an alleged plot against his life. The lawyer claimed Kelly was denied treatment for dangerous blood clots in his lungs and that “an avowed white supremacist” had said prison officials recruited him to harm Kelly in custody.

At a news conference that month, Brindley said he planned to appeal directly to Trump for help. “R. Kelly does not have the time, with his life in danger, to go through the normal channels,” Brindley said, according to The Tribune. “I will ask President Trump to help us, because we need him.”

Brindley did not respond to Rolling Stone‘s request for comment on Wednesday.

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At Kelly’s Brooklyn-based trial, the jury found that the singer had sex with underage girls and bribed a state employee to create a phony ID card so he could marry the 15-year-old singer Aaliyah because he believed she was pregnant and thought the marriage would save him from jail.

A federal judge in Chicago still hasn’t ruled on Kelly’s motion for a new trial, but his request for bond in the meantime was denied.