Jelly Roll’s criminal past is officially behind him.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee pardoned 33 people on Thursday, December 18, including the country singer.
Photos published by the AP showed Jelly Roll (real name Jason DeFord) smiling while he met with Lee, 66, at the Tennessee Governor’s Mansion in Oak Hill. Lee could be seen giving the musician his official pardon in the image.
Jelly Roll has spoken candidly about his criminal past, revealing in his 2023 documentary, Jelly Roll: Save Me, that he had been to jail around 40 times for various offenses. Jelly Roll was arrested at age 16 for aggravated assault and was incarcerated for one year before being released with seven years probation. Years later, he was arrested for dealing drugs. After finding out in 2008 that he had become a father, the singer decided to turn his life around. (Jelly Roll is the dad of daughter Bailee, 17, and son Noah, 9.)
In April, the Tennessee Board of Parole unanimously recommended a pardon for Jelly Roll.
“This was incredible,” the singer told AP at the time. “I pray this goes through. But today was special for me, regardless.”
Lee briefly spoke to reporters after Thursday’s pardons, addressing criticisms that Jelly Roll was only included because of his celebrity status.
“His story is remarkable, and it’s a redemptive, powerful story, which is what you look for and what you hope for,” Lee said.
Since his 2009 prison release, Jelly Roll has focused on redemption through his music career.
“I could no longer be selfish. There was something that was solely relying on me,” Jelly Roll said in a 2022 radio interview while discussing how his daughter changed his life. “I knew that that was an important task. So I wanted to take it seriously. And I did. I take it very seriously to this day.”
Aside from making music — Jelly Roll has released 20 albums since 2012 — he is also a major advocate. He testified in front of the U.S. Senate in 2024 and urged lawmakers to help stop the spread of fentanyl.
“I think it’s important for me to tell you all that I’m not here to defend the use of illegal drugs, and I also understand the paradox of my history as a drug dealer standing in front of this committee,” he said during the hearing. “But equally, I think that’s what makes me perfect to talk about this. I was a part of the problem. I am here now, standing as a man that wants to be a part of the solution.”
Jelly Roll later reflected on that moment in an interview with Rolling Stone.
“[I had the] opportunity to go speak in front of the people that frankly, I think, are dropping the ball,” he shared. “I got to go in there and try to rally support behind the calls that I think shouldn’t be as overshadowed as it is, and to speak for a slice of America that’s not often spoken for and in a positive way.”
Jelly Roll noted that “nobody humanizes addiction,” something he thinks is very important.
“Fentanyl is deeper than drug addiction,” he added at the time. “My only goal in that was to hopefully bring attention to it. And I think I did. Believe it or not, I’ve got a call from about every senator in America.”
