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Jelly Roll, a hip-hop and country music artist who rebuilt his life after serving time in prison, was granted a full pardon by Tennessee Governor Bill Lee on Thursday, December 18.
"His story is remarkable, and it’s a redemptive, powerful story, which is what you look for and what you hope for,” Lee told the Associated Press after granting the pardon.
With the pardon, Jelly Roll, 41 — whose birth name is Jason Bradley DeFord — will now be able to travel internationally without the hurdles of being a convicted felon, and can once again vote. He aspires to be a missionary.
In Tennessee, pardons are granted after a person has completed their prison sentence, explained the Associated Press. They are intended as a show of forgiveness. Lee has made a tradition of granting the pardons each year around Christmastime.
Jelly Roll was one of 33 people who were issued pardons by Lee. None of those pardoned committed homicide, crimes of a sexual nature, or against a minor as an adult, said Lee.
In April of this year, the Tennessee Board of Parole recommended unanimously that Jelly Roll be granted a pardon. While this measure is non-binding, it was viewed as a sign that the pardon was likely to happen.
"I want to be an inspiration for people who are now where I used to be — to let them know that change is truly possible,” Jelly Roll told the board during his application for a pardon. “One of the reasons I’m asking for your recommendation for this pardon is because I’m looking to take my message of redemption through the power of music and faith through the rest of the world.”
“I’ll still be using this same pardon, God willing, to go do missionary work in my 50s and 60s,” he said.
Jelly Roll: From jail to the Vatican
Jelly Roll began using drugs at the age of 14, the same year he was baptized, he told the Grammy Awards website in a 2023 interview.
"The same year that I got baptized, I got arrested, and that started what would be a 10-year cycle of incarceration in and out," he said.
His daughter, Bailee, was born in 2008 while Jelly Roll was serving a federal prison sentence. Her birth, he told the Grammy Awards website, was what inspired him to begin to turn his life around.
"And she's in a way better place," said Jelly Roll about his daughter. "She's so much better than I could have ever been at that age, or probably will ever be."
Many of Jelly Roll's songs are about his faith.
In September, Jelly Roll performed his "Hard Fought Hallelujah" at the Vatican's “Grace for the World” concert. Prior to his performance, he met Pope Leo XIV.
"From rock bottom to holy ground," said Jelly Roll in a post on Instagram, adding the verse, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
