Wahlberg’s pardon request needed to expand burger chain

Without question, actor and filmmaker Mark Wahlberg has put his troubled youth behind him. The entertainer lives a life that is family-focused, and he’s a major philanthropist as well as Hollywood superstar.

However, the actor, who goes to mass daily, also has a financial reason for wanting to have the Massachusetts governor pardon him for a felony conviction on his record since he was 16 — for brutally beating a Vietnamese man, whom he also verbally attacked with a racially charged rant.

Wahlberg wants to expand his family’s Wahlburger restaurant chain, and a number of states prevent ownership to people who have criminal backgrounds. In Wahlberg’s case, his 45 days in jail for that assault conviction could cause him a problem. With a pardon, the issue would go away.

In the meantime, the victim, Johnny Trinh, who now lives in Arlington, Texas, recently told the London Daily Mail he holds no grudge against Wahlberg and also was long unaware the now-famous star was his attacker. He hopes to one day meet Wahlberg, and there’s word the actor also wants to meet Trinh, to apologize to him in person.