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Mark Wahlberg Requesting Pardon for Violent Hate Crimes

Actor terrorized Black kids, among other felonies, as a teen.

Mark Wahlberg wants his record scrubbed clean of felonies he committed as a teenager. The A-list actor is asking a Massachusetts parole board to grant him a pardon for crimes that include terrorizing a group of Black elementary school kids and beating up a Vietnamese store owner. Wahlberg claims he is "not the same person" he was when he committed the crimes.
The actor's reasons for seeking the pardon are unclear, since he is not under the threat of any further disciplinary action. (He served 45 days of a two-year sentence in 1988.) His criminal past hasn't affected his career in Hollywood or his business empire, which includes a number of restaurants. His application claims that his rap sheet could interfere with being granted liquor licenses and his work helping “at-risk” people.
Some feel the father-of-four's application is ill-timed given the civil unrest in this country over the deaths of Michael Brown, Eric Garner and Tamir Rice, all three of whom were not given a second chance by law enforcement. 
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 (Photo: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for AFI)

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