Jelly Roll has described spending about 12–13 years of his life “in and out” of juvenile detention, jails, and prison, but his longest single stretch locked up for one case was a little over one year in prison, followed by many years of probation and court supervision.

Quick Scoop

  • As a teen, he was first locked up around age 14 and kept cycling through juvenile detention and jail for almost a decade.
  • At 16–17, he was involved in an aggravated robbery, was charged as an adult, and ultimately served a little over one year in prison, plus more than seven years of probation.
  • Across his teens and early 20s, he has said he spent roughly 13 years “in and out of” incarceration and supervision, not one single continuous sentence.

So if you’re asking “how long was Jelly Roll in prison?” the simple way to put it is:

  • Longest single prison term: a bit more than one year.
  • Total time locked up over his youth (juvenile + jail/prison): around 12–13 years on and off, including repeated arrests, short jail stays, and long supervision.

Why this comes up in the latest news

Jelly Roll talks about his record a lot now because:

  • His violent felony made it hard to vote or get a passport for years, and he’s pushed for second-chance and criminal justice reform.
  • In 2025, Tennessee officials moved toward and then granted him a pardon, which became a big trending story tied to his past and his current success in country music.

In forum and social media discussions, people often mix up “13 years in and out of the system” with “13 years straight in prison,” but the evidence points to repeated short stints and about a year as his main prison term, not a decade-long continuous bid.

TL;DR: He wasn’t locked up for one giant 13‑year sentence; he spent many years cycling through juvenile detention, jails, and prison, with his main prison stretch lasting a little over one year, plus long probation afterward.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.