R&B singer R. Kelly has formally asked President Donald Trump to commute his 31-year federal prison sentence, marking his most significant legal effort yet after years of unsuccessful appeals challenging convictions for racketeering, sex trafficking, and child sexual abuse crimes.
The request was filed with the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of the Pardon Attorney and is currently listed as "pending" in the federal clemency database. Rather than seeking a full pardon, Kelly is asking Trump for a commutation, which would reduce or end his prison sentence while leaving his convictions intact.
