Tennessee Governor Bill Lee announced today that he’s granting a full pardon to Jason DeFord, better known as country music star Jelly Roll, after a recommendation for a pardon was supported by the Tennessee Board of Parole.

Jelly has been open about his troubled past: He grew up in Antioch, Tennessee, just outside of Nashville, and through his own estimation has been arrested around 40 times in his life, though the large majority of those came when he was a minor.

He was arrested back in 2000 for armed robbery, a crime he opened up about during an appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast:

“It was a heinous crime, admittedly. It was horrible, we robbed a couple guys for some weed. But they called the police because we took some money and some stuff. So it was an armed robbery, we went in there with a gun.”

He was charged as an adult and was sentenced to eight years in prison plus seven years probation. He was released after serving just over one year, his term being lighter than the co-conspirators because Jelly himself didn’t carry a gun into the home they robbed.

It’s a crime that Jelly has continually expressed remorse for, including during a 2023 interview:

“I never want to overlook the fact that it was a heinous crime. This is a grown man looking back at a 16-year-old kid that made the worst decision that he could have made in life and people could have got hurt and, by the grace of God, thankfully, nobody did.”

In October of 2007, Jelly Roll was again arrested and spent 15 days in jail, this time on a misdemeanor for driving without a license. There were no serious penalties from this one, but it wouldn’t be long before he was locked up again because in 2008 he got busted for selling drugs after Nashville police officers found cocaine in his car while he was in a drug-free school zone. He was again sentenced to eight years with 8 years probation and again was released early. His probation ran out in 2016.

But now, he’s going to have a clean slate.

While Jelly Roll has embraced and owned his past mistakes, he’s spoken in the past about things in his life that would be easier with a pardon – including international travel and of course, his newfound hobby, hunting, which he’s only able to do with a bow because he lost his gun rights as a convicted felon.

He’s also become a leading voice in advocating for solutions to the fentanyl crisis, testifying in front of Congress last year on the effect that addiction has had on himself and his family and the need for legislative action:

“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. 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 part of the solution.

I brought my community down. I hurt people. I was the uneducated man in the kitchen playing chemist with drugs I knew absolutely nothing about, just like these drug dealers are doing right now when they’re mixing every drug on the market with fentanyl. And they’re killing the people we love.”

Speaking on the decision to grant Jelly the pardon, Governor Lee praised his redemption story:

“His story is remarkable, and it’s a redemptive, powerful story, which is what you look for and what you hope for.”

In Tennessee, a pardon is considered a statement of forgiveness from the state and clears the way for Jelly Roll to have his criminal record expunged. The restoration of rights, such as gun and voting rights, is not automatic though, and Jelly must now petition the courts to have his record expunged and his rights restored.

As a former criminal defense attorney myself, I can safely say that there’s nothing better than seeing somebody turn their life around like this and become a force for good in their community, and there’s nobody more deserving of a pardon for his past than Jelly Roll.

Congratulations Jelly. Looks like Christmas came early to the Roll household.