R. Kelly has filed a formal request asking President Trump to commute his 30-year prison sentence, according to records on the Justice Department’s website. The clemency request was made public this week and is listed as pending with the White House Office of the Pardon Attorney.
Kelly, 59, was convicted on all counts at a 2021 trial in federal court in Brooklyn on charges including racketeering, sex trafficking, sexual exploitation of children, kidnapping, and forced labor. Jurors found he had sex with underage girls and bribed a state employee to create a phony ID card so he could marry 15-year-old singer Aaliyah.
In June 2025, Kelly’s lawyer, Beau B. Brindley, filed a motion for a new trial and asked for Kelly’s immediate release on bond, citing health concerns and an alleged plot against his life. Brindley claimed Kelly was denied treatment for blood clots in his lungs and that prison officials had recruited someone to harm him in custody.
At a news conference that month, Brindley said he planned to appeal directly to Trump. “R. Kelly does not have the time, with his life in danger, to go through the normal channels,” Brindley said. “I will ask President Trump to help us, because we need him.”
The judge has not yet ruled on Kelly’s motion for a new trial. His request for bond in the meantime was denied.
Source: Rolling Stone
