There is no sign that President Trump will pardon R. Kelly. As of early 2026, the White House has not publicly responded to the pardon request Kelly’s lawyers sent directly to Trump’s office in June 2025, a federal judge has denied Kelly’s bid for home detention, and the U.S. Supreme Court has twice refused to review his convictions. Kelly remains at the Federal Correctional Institution in Butner, North Carolina, with a projected release date of December 21, 2045.1CNN. R. Kelly Hospital Prison
What Kelly’s Lawyers Have Asked For
In early June 2025, Chicago attorney Beau Brindley confirmed he had reached out directly to Trump’s office seeking either a full pardon or a commutation that would move Kelly to home confinement. Brindley skipped the standard clemency process run by the Department of Justice’s Office of the Pardon Attorney and told reporters that Trump was “the only person with the courage and the power to fight corruption in the prosecution of public figures and stomp it out.”2Forbes. R. Kelly Seeks Trump Pardon as Prosecutors Dismiss His Claims Prison Staff Trying to Kill Him
Brindley said Kelly “does not have the luxury to wait for vindication from the Courts” and told ABC7 Chicago that his team was “engaged in conversations with multiple persons close to the White House and to President Trump,” discussions he said had “expanded and intensified” after the defense filed emergency court motions.3ABC7 Chicago. R. Kelly Seeking Pardon From President Donald Trump According to People, the request covers either a pardon or a sentence commutation permitting home detention.4People. R. Kelly Presidential Pardon Donald Trump
Brindley cited Trump’s May 28, 2025 pardon of reality stars Todd and Julie Chrisley, convicted of tax evasion and bank fraud, as evidence the president was in a “generous mood.”5CNN. Todd Chrisley Pardon Prison Release The White House has not commented on the Kelly request.
Why the Precedents Kelly’s Team Cites Don’t Match
Trump has granted celebrity clemency before, but the cases his team points to involve categorically different crimes. On his final day in office in January 2021, Trump pardoned rapper Lil Wayne, who had pleaded guilty to a federal weapons charge, and commuted Kodak Black’s sentence for making a false statement to purchase a firearm.6BBC News. Trump Pardons and Commutations Lil Wayne had endorsed Trump before the 2020 election, and the White House cited philanthropic work in announcing both grants.7NBC Connecticut. Trump Pardons Rappers Lil Wayne, Kodak Black in His Final Hours in Office
The Chrisleys were convicted of financial crimes and had a direct political advocate in their daughter Savannah, who spoke at the 2024 Republican National Convention. Kelly was convicted of sex trafficking and racketeering involving minors, and no comparable political figure has publicly championed his cause. Department of Justice guidelines state that for violent crimes and “notorious” offenses, the Pardon Attorney must consider victim impact and the “likely effect of a pardon on law enforcement interests or upon the general public.”8U.S. Department of Justice. Pardon Attorney Kelly’s team has bypassed that process, which means the standard vetting is not happening in his case, though the political weight of the underlying convictions remains the same.
The Convictions Behind the Request
On September 27, 2021, a federal jury in the Eastern District of New York convicted Kelly on all nine counts of a superseding indictment, including racketeering predicated on sexual exploitation of children, forced labor, and Mann Act violations for transporting women and girls across state lines for illegal sexual activity. U.S. District Judge Ann M. Donnelly sentenced him to 30 years on June 29, 2022.9U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. R. Kelly Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison
A separate Northern District of Illinois case produced a child pornography and enticement conviction and a 20-year sentence, with all but one year running concurrently with the New York sentence.10NY1. Singer R. Kelly Moved to North Carolina Prison From Chicago
Appeals are exhausted. In the fall of 2024, the Supreme Court declined to hear Kelly’s challenge to the Chicago conviction, letting stand a Seventh Circuit ruling that affirmed the judgment.11Courthouse News Service. Supreme Court Rejects R. Kelly Appeal of Sex Crimes Conviction In June 2025, the Court again refused to take up his case, this time rejecting his argument that prosecutors had stretched the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act in the New York prosecution. The Second Circuit had ruled against him in February 2025.12CNN. R. Kelly Supreme Court Conviction Executive clemency is what remains.
The Murder-Plot Allegations Attached to the Push
The pardon request arrived alongside a 20-page emergency motion filed on June 10, 2025, alleging that three senior Bureau of Prisons officials had tried to recruit inmates to assassinate Kelly at Butner to suppress evidence of government misconduct during his prosecutions.13Court TV. R. Kelly Seeks Release, Cites Murder Plot by Prison Officials
The motion relies on a sworn declaration from Mikeal Glenn Stine, a terminally ill Aryan Brotherhood member incarcerated at USP Tucson. Stine claimed officials approached him with the words “You need to do what you came here for” and offered him a chance to escape in exchange for killing Kelly. According to the motion, Stine was transferred to Kelly’s unit in March 2025 and later confessed the alleged plot to Kelly directly.14The Guardian. R. Kelly Murder Plot Stine has filed more than 100 civil suits and petitions over two decades and has prior convictions for sending threatening letters to a federal magistrate and an assistant U.S. attorney. Brindley said Stine had agreed to take a polygraph.15NewsNation. R. Kelly Attorney Home Detention
On the evening of June 12, 2025, Kelly received medication in solitary confinement that his lawyers describe as an “overdose quantity” of anxiety and sleep drugs. He was hospitalized the next morning at Duke University Hospital, where scans reportedly found blood clots in his legs and lungs and doctors recommended a seven-day stay and surgery.16WRAL. R. Kelly Overdose Duke University Hospital Brindley alleged that armed Bureau of Prisons officers removed Kelly from the hospital before surgery. The Bureau declined to address the specific claims, citing policy against discussing inmates’ medical issues and pending litigation, and Duke deferred to the Bureau.17USA Today. R. Kelly Overdose Hospitalized Lawyers
Federal prosecutors called the claims a “fanciful conspiracy” and “deeply unserious.” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Julien argued that “no court has the ability to enter an order freeing Kelly’s victims from the prison that Kelly put them in,” and warned that releasing any inmate who claimed to fear for their safety would set a dangerous precedent.2Forbes. R. Kelly Seeks Trump Pardon as Prosecutors Dismiss His Claims Prison Staff Trying to Kill Him On June 19, 2025, U.S. District Judge Martha Pacold denied the defense’s home detention motion, ruling she lacked jurisdiction.18NBC News. Judge Denies Defense Motion to Move R. Kelly to Home Detention The next day, Brindley filed a new motion for a new trial and emergency bond in the Northern District of Illinois, arguing that newly discovered evidence justified vacating Kelly’s Chicago convictions.19The Hollywood Reporter. R. Kelly Files Motion to Vacate Conviction, Murder-for-Hire Claims No ruling on that motion has been reported. No formal Bureau of Prisons or DOJ Inspector General investigation into the alleged plot or overdose has been publicly announced.20WTTW News. Federal Prosecutors Call R. Kelly’s Claims Murder Plot Targeting Him Fanciful Conspiracy
The defense has also alleged that a former cellmate at Chicago’s Metropolitan Correctional Center, identified as Kishan Modugumudi, stole Kelly’s legal mail and privileged attorney-client communications and passed them to prosecutors in exchange for a sentencing break, and that those materials were used to pressure witnesses including Azriel Clary into cooperating.21Chicago Sun-Times. R. Kelly Claims His Life Is in Danger and Wants Out of Prison
Victims’ Families Are Fighting the Pardon
The family of Joycelyn Savage, one of Kelly’s alleged victims, has publicly opposed clemency. Attorney Gerald Griggs, representing the Savage family, told TMZ that Kelly “should absolutely not be pardoned” and “has never taken accountability” for his crimes. The family says Joycelyn remains under Kelly’s control and has not been in direct contact with them since a brief 2019 phone call they describe as scripted and monitored.22WBLS. Joycelyn Savage’s Family Reacts to R. Kelly’s Request for Pardon
Timothy and Jonjelyn Savage say they tried to reach their daughter after her grandfather’s death and got no response when routed through Kelly’s associates. They argue a pardon would block any remaining path to recovering their daughter.23Yahoo News. Joycelyn Savage Family Reacts to R. Kelly’s Request for Pardon Brindley has declined to discuss Joycelyn Savage, saying the defense prefers to focus on the pardon request itself.24WDKX. Lawyer for Joycelyn Savage’s Family Reportedly Details Their Reaction to R. Kelly’s Plea for a Pardon
Where Things Stand
Kelly was transferred to FCI Butner in April 2023 and remains there. As of February 2026, he is being held in isolation while the Bureau of Prisons investigates his possession of a retired prison official’s phone number. Brindley says Kelly obtained it through a prison mentor program when the official retired. The Bureau has given no timeline, and Brindley has described the conditions as “inhumane,” saying his client has lost outside contact and commissary access.25People. R. Kelly Being Held in Isolation While Being Investigated for Possessing Retired Prison Official’s Phone Number
The pardon power is the president’s alone, and Trump could act at any time. But on the public record there is no reciprocated interest from the White House, the courts have rejected the parallel push for release, and the victims’ side is organized against clemency. Anyone tracking the question should watch for a formal White House statement, movement on the pending motion to vacate the Chicago convictions, or a change in Kelly’s custody status — none of which has happened.