New York Governor Pardons British Hip-Hop Musician
In 1990, Ricky Waters, the British hip-hop musician known as Slick Rick, was convicted for attempted murder and weapons charges. Waters served just over five years in prison and a year and a half on work release. In 1995, an immigration judge blocked a deportation order for Waters. However, the Board of Immigration Appeals, who supported the judge’s decision, was forced to overturn the ruling based on a law that does not allow convicts who serve more than five years to have relief from deportation.
In 1995, New York Governor David A. Paterson, who was then a New York State Senator, testified on behalf of Waters in his immigration hearing. In May 2008, Governor Paterson pardoned Waters of his crimes due to the musician’s clean prison record and community service.
This pardon is the tenth issued by a New York governor since the administration of Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller, of which four were issued to avoid deportation. Under federal law, an immigrant convicted of an aggravated felony or weapons charge can be deported. The governor’s pardon expunges the attempted murder conviction as grounds for deportation, but Waters must still obtain a waiver for the weapons conviction.
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