R. Kelly Makes Bold Appeal to Trump From Behind Bars to Cut His 31-Year Prison Sentence

• R. Kelly has formally asked U.S. President Donald Trump to reduce his 31-year federal prison sentence, making his first official request for a sentence reduction from the White House.

• The singer’s request has been filed with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of the Pardon Attorney and is currently pending, though it has not been placed under active review.

• Kelly is asking for a shorter prison term rather than a full presidential pardon as he continues serving his sentence following his federal sex crime convictions.

• His lawyer, Beau Brindley, has continued to push for intervention, arguing that Kelly’s health and personal safety remain serious concerns while he is in prison.

July 16, () — R&B singer Robert Sylvester Kelly, popularly known as R. Kelly, has formally appealed to U.S. President Donald Trump to reduce his 31-year federal prison sentence.

The request, submitted on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, marks Kelly’s first formal appeal to Trump after his lawyer publicly asked the president to intervene in 2025.

Court records from the Office of the Pardon Attorney show the application is pending. White House officials said it was submitted through the standard process and is not being fast-tracked.

Kelly is seeking a reduction of his sentence rather than a full presidential pardon.

The 59-year-old is serving a combined 31-year prison sentence after being convicted in two federal cases involving racketeering, sex trafficking, child sexual exploitation, child pornography and child enticement.

In 2021, a federal court in New York sentenced Kelly to 30 years in prison after finding him guilty of leading a criminal enterprise that exploited women and underage girls for years.

The following year, he was convicted in Chicago on child pornography and child enticement charges.

He received a 20-year sentence, with all but one year running concurrently with his earlier sentence, bringing his total prison term to 31 years.

Kelly is currently being held at the Federal Correctional Institution in Butner, North Carolina, and is not expected to be released until January 2046, unless his sentence is reduced.

Kelly’s attorney, Beau Brindley, has spent more than a year urging Trump to intervene. In 2025, he filed an emergency motion seeking Kelly’s release to home detention, claiming prison officials were involved in a plot to have the singer killed by another inmate.

Brindley has also claimed that Kelly’s health has worsened in prison and argued that he continues to face serious safety concerns behind bars.

The latest filing does not guarantee Kelly’s sentence will be reduced. Under U.S. law, the Office of the Pardon Attorney reviews such requests and makes recommendations to the president, who has the final decision.

Before his legal troubles, Kelly was one of R&B’s biggest stars, with a career that spanned more than three decades. He was known for hit songs including “I Believe I Can Fly”, “Ignition (Remix)”, “Step in the Name of Love”, “Sound of Victory”, and “When a Woman’s Fed Up.” He also wrote and produced music for several artists, including Michael Jackson’s 1995 hit “You Are Not Alone.”

Kelly has consistently denied the allegations that led to his convictions.