Ask Governor Newsom to Pardon Mario Martinez
KEEP THIS VETERAN IN THE COUNTRY HE SERVED
Mario Martinez served six years in the U.S. military and earned an honorable discharge. But he's now at risk of being deported from the country he served, the place he's called home for over 50 years.
From the age of four, Mario was raised in California. He attended school, married, and raised his children here. It's where he works hard at his job as a building engineer and where spends time with his son and granddaughter, fixing up the house they purchased. Home is nowhere else but here.
One night in 2008, distraught after learning that his best friend had committed suicide, Mario got into an argument with his then girlfriend. He carelessly flung a bottle, which unintentionally struck her, leading to his arrest. The incident was uncharacteristic. His girlfriend pled with the district attorney to drop the charge and for leniency, writing "[t]he harshness of the charges and punishment does not apply to what happened. He is a decent man and to destroy his character in such a matter is incomprehensible." Her pleas went unheard and Mario was convicted of domestic violence. He accepts that what he did was wrong, and served his prison sentence.
Mario does not deserve to be punished for life for this one mistake. But without a gubernatorial pardon, that is what will happen — he will be deported and permanently separated from his family and his only home.
Urge Gov. Newsom to pardon Mario Martinez and keep this veteran in the U.S., with his family, where he belongs.
Message Recipients:
Governor Gavin Newsom