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Jelly Roll’s Past Crimes Are Officially Wiped Clean by Tennessee Governor
Jelly Roll has been granted clemency for crimes he committed over two decades ago.
The “Son of a Sinner” singer (born Jason DeFord) was one of the 33 people Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee pardoned on Thursday, December 18.
“After thoroughly reviewing the merits of each case, I have decided to grant 33 individuals executive clemency,” Lee said in a statement. “Each individual case is unique and warranted consideration, and I thank the Board of Parole members for their thoughtful recommendations throughout this process.”
In particularly, the governor felt Jelly Roll, 41, is a “man who should get a pardon.”
“Jelly Roll’s story was remarkable, redemptive and powerful,” he told reporters in a conference call, per the Nashville Tennessean, “and that it was evident he should get a pardon.”
By Jelly Roll’s own account, he went to jail 40 times for various drug-related offenses throughout his teenage years and early 20s. His most serious charge was aggravated robbery, for which he served over a year in prison and seven years of probation.
“I never want to overlook the fact that it was a heinous crime,” he told Billboard in 2023. “This is a grown man looking back at a 16-year-old kid that made the worst decision that he could have made in life and people could have got hurt and, by the grace of God, thankfully, nobody did.”
He continued, “I was charged as an adult years before I could buy a beer, lease an apartment, get a pack of cigarettes.”
Jelly Roll turned over a new leaf when his daughter Bailee, who he shares with ex Felicia Beckwith, was born in 2008 amid his incarceration.
“It’s like a Damascus Road experience in the Bible,” he recalled during a 2023 appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience. “I immediately was like, ‘I’ve got to do something. I’ve got to quit this s***. I gotta to figure it out.’”
During his time behind bars, Jelly Roll also discovered his passion for songwriting, leading him to pursue a career in music once he was released. Since then, the “Need a Favor” artist—married to Bunnie Xo since 2016—has used his platform to spread awareness on mental health and addiction issues.
He’s also expressed remorse for his past crimes, sharing that he’s “thought about reaching out” to the victims of the robbery to apologize.
“I had no business taking from anybody,” Jelly Roll, who applied to be pardoned from his crimes last year, said on a 2024 episode of the On Purpose podcast. “Just the entitlement that I had, that the world owed me enough that I could come take your stuff. It’s just what a horrible, horrible way to look at life and people. What a horrible way to interact with the Earth.”
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