Metro

Gov pardon for immigrant who turned life around

Gov. David Paterson has pardoned a Chinese immigrant who faced deportation for robberies he committed as a teenager.

Paterson said today that 29-year-old Qing Hong Wu had reformed his life since he was convicted for robberies committed in 1995 and 1996. Wu served three years in a reformatory, where he earned his GED diploma.

Since his release, Wu pursued a successful career in information technology.

When he got engaged in 2007, he decided to become a U.S. citizen and contacted federal authorities. But he was detained in November 2009 after disclosing his prior convictions.

Immigration officials then began efforts to deport him.

The governor’s pardon will allow him to remain in the U.S., where he has lived since age 5.