Victim from 1988 Mark Wahlberg Case Speaks Out

Movie star and Dorchester native Mark Wahlberg recently sought out a pardon for a crime he committed in the late-1980s.

The actor and former rapper attacked a middle-aged Vietnamese man on Dorchester Avenue in 1988 and filed an application with the Massachusetts Board of Pardons in December in hopes of erasing the crime from his record. He considers the pardon formal recognition because of his charity work through the Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Dorchester.

Wahlberg was arrested and initially charged with attempted murder for the attack, although it was later reduced to criminal contempt with a maximum sentence of 10 years. After pleading guilty, he was given a two-year sentence at the Deer Island House of Correction in Boston but only had to serve 45 days in the correctional facility.

The Daily Mail reported that victim Johnny Trinh, who is now a married father, did not know the identity of his attacker until he was told by Mail Online. Trinh forgives the “Ted” star for his actions.

“‘Everyone deserves another chance,” Trinh said to Mail Online. “He paid for his crime when he went to prison. He has grown up now. I am sure he has his own family and is a responsible man.”

According to Boston.com, Trinh, who earns $9 an hour printing shirt logos in a clothing store, wants to tell Mark Wahlberg in person that he is forgiven.

The Board of Pardons needs to investigate the petition and decide if it warrants a public hearing before it is recommended to the governor who will be Charlie Baker by that time. If the governor approves, it still needs to get the approval of the governor’s council.

Image courtesy of Cummings Photography in Framingham for a Patch story in August.