Mark Wahlberg seeks pardon for 1988 assault committed at age 16
The ‘Transformers’ star is seeking a pardon for committing assault against a Vietnamese man at age 16. Wahlberg said that the pardon ‘would be a formal recognition that I am not the same person that I was on the night of April 8, 1988.’
Mark Wahlberg wants a clean slate. The “Transformers” actor filed a petition last Wednesday seeking a pardon for assaulting a man in 1988, according to NECN.
Wahlberg was 16-years-old when he was arrested for assaulting a man in his Dorchester, Mass., neighborhood. The news site reports that the actor’s pardon application states that the assault occurred while the then-teenage star was attempting a robbery outside a convenience store.
Wahlberg, under the influence of drugs and alcohol, “hit the man over the head with a wooden stick” and also punched the victim as he tried to escape police.
The “Boogie Nights” star was tried as an adult and served three months in jail. Nearly three decades later, he is hoping to have the assault charge removed from his record.
Wahlberg, 43, said in the petition that he should be pardoned due to his extensive involvement with several charitable organizations, including his own Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation.
"I have not engaged in philanthropic efforts in order to make people forget about my past," Wahlberg stated. "To the contrary, I want people to remember my past so that I can serve as an example of how lives can be turned around and how people can be redeemed."
Wahlberg also gave a very personal reason for seeking to clear his record.
"The more complex answer is that receiving a pardon would be a formal recognition that I am not the same person that I was on the night of April 8, 1988," the star wrote.
"It would be formal recognition that someone like me can receive official public redemption if he devotes himself to personal improvement and a life of good works."
The Massachusetts advisory board of pardons is reviewing more than 70 applications for pardons, and have not yet voted on recommending a pardon for the actor, the Boston Herald reports.
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