BOSTON (MyFoxBoston.com) -- Mark Wahlberg has submitted a petition to the Massachusetts Parole Board to have his conviction stemming from crimes he committed in 1998 pardoned.
Wahlberg was arrested in Boston in April, 1988, when he was 16 years old, after he attempted to rob a man of two cases of alcohol outside a convenience store. He hit the man in the head with a stick, ran down the block to avoid police and punched another man in the process. Police caught up with him, arrested him, and found marijuana in his back pocket.
He was charged as an adult with assault and battery, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and possession of a Class D controlled substance, found guilty and sentenced to prison time at the Plymouth House of Corrections.
In his petition, the actor and Boston native apologized for his actions, and noted that he has since turned his life around, using his Hollywood spotlight "to speak openly about the mistakes I made as a teenager so that others do not make those same mistakes."
Wahlberg goes on to note his community involvement and extensive philanthropic work with charities in Boston and across the country.
Wahlberg's past convictions "still legally impact" him in the present in many ways, he wrote in the petition. Additionally, he noted that he is not the same person he was in 1988. A pardon "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," Wahlberg wrote.
The actor submitted the petition Dec. 1. It is the first step in a six-step clemency process that includes a Parole Board hearing and consideration from the governor. If granted, it would erase his criminal record.
Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/7QOJU3BNCJERBNKJC5LWTBYFLU.png)
