Jelly Roll could soon have a clean record, thanks to Davidson County Daron Hall. Hall reveals on social media that he has been advocating for Jelly Roll to receive a pardon. Fortunately, the request is one large step closer to coming to fruition.
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"A year ago, I wrote Governor Bill Lee asking for a full pardon for Jason 'Jelly Roll' Deford.....today the Board unanimously recommended his Pardon," Hall reveals on social media. "It's now in the hands of our Governor."
Governor Lee has yet to comment on the request.
" data-instgrm-version="14" style="background:#FFF;border:0;border-radius:3px;margin: 1px;max-width:540px;min-width:326px;padding:0;width:99.375%;width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px);width:calc(100% - 2px)">Almost everything has changed in Jelly Roll's life since getting out of prison. The Nashville native now enjoys a successful country music career, and also is dabbling into acting. Jelly Roll stars in a recent episode of the hit TV show, Fire Country. He plays a man like himself, who is given another chance.
"I really found myself in this guy," Jelly Roll says. He adds that when he walked out of jail the last time, he vowed to never return.
"When I came home from my last time being incarcerated, I was so determined to change who I was as a human," he says.
Why Jelly Roll Needs A Pardon
Jelly Roll has transformed literally every area of his life. But because of the felony conviction, which occurred when he was still a teenager, he is limited in what he can and cannot do.
"This felony carries with me," Jelly Roll tells CBS Sunday Mornings. "It's sad. It prohibits me from a lot... I finally got a passport. I was so excited that America was willing to let me leave, and I didn't realize other countries had to let me come. That's my new hurdle."
Jelly Roll was unable to understand at the time what the ramifications of being charged with a felony for aggravated assault would mean for him, decades later.
"My felony happened to me when I was 16, which is two years before you're an adult," Jelly Roll reveals on Q With Tom Power. "They charged me as an adult in that moment. So even then, I wish I had really the brain to understand what my lawyer was trying to explain to me when he was saying, 'Hey man, in the state of Tennessee, when you get one of these, you can never get it off your record. You can never get it expunged. It's on your record forever.'"
