Mark Wahlberg Says He Regrets Applying For Pardon

BOSTON (CBS) – In an interview, actor and Dorchester native Mark Wahlberg said he regrets applying for a pardon from the state for a 1988 assault he served prison time for as a teenager.

During a question and answer session at the Toronto Film Festival on Tuesday, Wahlberg told The Wrap that if given the chance, he would change how he approached his pardon application.

"It was one of those things where it was just kind of presented to me, and if I could've done it over again I would never have focused on that or applied," Wahlberg told The Wrap.

When Wahlberg was 16 years old, he went to prison for hitting an Asian man with a wooden stick while trying to steal alcohol from a convenience store in Dorchester. Wahlberg served 45 days in jail for the 1988 attack.

In 2014, the actor filed a pardon request for the crime. His application was opposed by an Asian-American activist group and from victims of Wahlberg's previous criminal incidents.

"I didn't need that, I spent 28 years righting the wrong. I didn't need a piece of paper to acknowledge it. I was kind of pushed into doing it, I certainly didn't need to or want to relive that stuff over again," Wahlberg said, according to The Wrap.

One positive of filing for the pardon, Wahlberg told The Wrap, was that it gave him the chance to apologize in person to the victim of the 1988 attack.

Wahlberg's pardon application is still pending.