On December 18, 2025, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee gave country music star Jelly Roll (real name Jason DeFord) a pardon. This was one of 33 clemency grants given around Christmas time. The decision came after the Tennessee Board of Pardons and Parole unanimously recommended it in April 2025 after a full review. During a press conference, Lee called Jelly Roll’s journey a “remarkable, redemptive, powerful story.”
Jelly Roll was convicted of crimes he committed when he was younger, like an armed robbery in 2002 when he was 17 years old and stole $350 from people in their homes. He was unarmed and served one year in prison and then probation. In 2008, he was charged with having marijuana and crack cocaine in his car, which led to eight years of court-ordered supervision. He has talked about these events in public, calling the robbery a “heinous crime” that he regrets every day.
Jelly Roll found music while in prison, and he credits it with changing his life and making him a successful Grammy-nominated artist who speaks out for rehabilitation. Friends and civic leaders who supported his pardon application pointed to his faith-based outreach and efforts to help people stop using drugs. The pardon puts an end to his criminal past in Nashville, which will allow him to have a bigger impact around the world.
