R Kelly. Photo: Antonio Perez/AFP/Getty Images
R&B singer R. Kelly has formally appealed to United States President Donald Trump to commute his 31-year prison sentence for racketeering, sex trafficking and child sexual abuse-related offences, The Guardian reports on Thursday.
Court records made public this week by the Office of the Pardon Attorney showed that Kelly, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, filed a request for executive clemency with the US Department of Justice.
According to the records, the application is currently pending and seeks a commutation of his sentence rather than a full presidential pardon.
Kelly, 59, was convicted in 2021 of racketeering after prosecutors accused him of leading a criminal enterprise that recruited women and underage girls for illegal sexual activity and the production of pornography.
