Mark Wahlberg Seeks Pardon for 1988 Assault

Actor files petition claiming, “I am not the same person that I was”

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - MAY 21: Mark Wahlberg attends the "Transformers - Age Of Extinction" footage screening at Event Cinemas George Street on May 21, 2014 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Caroline McCredie/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures International)
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Mark Wahlberg has filed a petition with the Massachusetts Board of Pardons seeking a pardon for multiple crimes, including assault and battery, which stemmed from a 1988 incident during which the actor beat a man so severely that the victim lost sight in one eye, ABC News reported.

Wahlberg noted his charitable work in the petition, though he noted, “I have not engaged in philanthropic efforts in order to make people forget about my past. 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.”

The actor is seeking the pardon so that he can pursue a concessionaire’s license in California for his restaurant business, and also work with law enforcement to help at-risk individuals.

Wahlberg, 43, added 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.”

Wahlberg was 16 at the time of the assault, but he was tried as an adult. The future rapper-actor received three months in prison, serving 45 days of the sentence, Time reported.

The Board of Pardons will review the petition before deciding whether to recommend it to the governor, who would then need to approve it before a pardon could be granted.

Representatives for Wahlberg did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.

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