R. Kelly Asks Donald Trump to Commute Sentence for Child Sex Abuse Convictions

The R&B singer is serving a 31-year sentence after being convicted of child sex abuse offenses

NEED TO KNOW R. Kelly has formally requested a sentence commutation from Donald Trump Kelly is serving a 31-year sentence for a slew of child sex abuse-related convictions He claimed in a motion last year that he was the subject of a murder plot by Bureau of Prisons officials R. Kelly has formally requested that President Donald Trump commute his sentence. Records from the White House's Office of the Pardon Attorney show a request for a sentence commutation was recently submitted by Robert Sylvester Kelly, the former R&B superstar's full name.

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. Kelly is serving a 31-year sentence for a slew of child sex abuse-related convictions.

He was convicted in 2021 and 2022 on charges including racketeering, sexual exploitation of children, forced labor and producing child sex abuse material. Kelly's attorney, Beau Brindley, last year filed an emergency motion seeking a new trial, claiming that prison guards at FCI Butner in North Carolina had plotted to murder him. In the motion, Brindley claimed that a member of the Aryan Brotherhood had been sent to Butner by corrupt Bureau of Prisons officials with the intention of killing Kelly, and also claimed guards had given him an overdose of sleeping pills that sent him to the hospital.

"We are in open discussions with people close to President Trump," Brindley told PEOPLE last year. "We believe that President Trump is the only person with the courage to help us." Kelly, known for hits like "I Believe I Can Fly" and "Ignition (Remix)," was convicted twice in federal court after the government accused him of running a criminal enterprise "whose mission was to serve his sexual gratification," which included transporting minors across state lines for sex and producing child sex abuse material.

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