Mark Wahlberg seeking pardon for 1988 assault conviction

Actor and producer Mark Wahlberg is asking the Massachusetts Board of Pardons to remove the assault conviction against him from his record.

The news was first reported Thursday by NECN. "Receiving a pardon would be a formal recognition that I am not the same person I was on the night of April 8, 1988," he wrote in his application. "It would be a formal recognition that someone like me can receive official public redemption if he devotes himself to personal improvement and a life of good works."

That night in 1988, police say 16-year-old Wahlberg tried to steal two cases of beer from a Vietnamese man named Thanh Lim, beating him with a five-foot stick while yelling slurs. Wahlberg was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and possession of a controlled substance, and served 45 days of his 90 day sentence, The Boston Globe reports.

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In his application, Wahlberg writes that he supports the Dorchester Boys and Girls Club; started his own charity, the Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation; and attends church almost every day. He also mentions that a pardon would help as his family's chain of restaurants, Wahlburgers, expands. "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," he wrote.