Arkansas governor says he will pardon his son

Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe (D) has said he will pardon his son, Kyle, for a 2003 felony crime.

Kyle Beebe was charged in 2003 with possession of a controlled substance, marijuana, with intent to deliver. He received three years supervised probation and fines for this class C felony. At the time, Mike Beebe was the state attorney general, and said, "If he broke the law, he needs to pay for it. He needs to be treated like everybody else - no better, worse."

Mike Beebe has pardoned more than 700 people, he told KATV, with most non-violent offenders. He said he would have pardoned Kyle sooner had he asked, "but he took his sweet time about asking. He was embarrassed. He's still embarrassed."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Kyle Beebe is now 34 years old, and wrote in his petition that he was "living in a fantasy world" and tried to fill the emptiness he felt by selling drugs. "I am asking for a second chance to be a better son to my parents and prove to them that I am the person they raised me to be," he said. A spokesman for the Arkansas Parole Board Board told KATV that Kyle Beebe did not receive any special treatment, and his application is under consideration.