100 signatures reached
To: The Honorable Kathy Hochul, Governor of New York
Stop the Deportation. Keep Shakoure Home, Clemency Now.
Stop the deportation of Pascal Shakoure Charpentier, our son, our brother, a man engaged to a heroic COVID-19 nurse, a friend to many, mentor to at-risk youths, and a builder of businesses, by granting him a pardon today.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has shown mercy and forgiveness by issuing pardons to people who have engaged in thoroughgoing rehabilitation while serving their sentences. We ask Gov. Hochul to again affirm that people can transform and grow and mature beyond the actions they took while teenagers. Shakoure is a U.S. citizen who, because of a legal technicality, has received a deportation order. Without a pardon from Gov. Hochul he could at any time be deported to Haiti, a country he has never been to and for which he has never held citizenship.
#ClemencyHochul #KeepShakoureHome
Why is this important?
We ask that you please grant Pascal Shakoure Charpentier's pardon application to forever protect him from deportation by Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) and help him stay in the U.S. with his family and friends.
Shakoure was born in a U.S. military hospital on a U.S. Air Force base in Germany, while his father was serving in the Vietnam War. His father served from 1968 to 1972, when he was honorably discharged. Both of Shakoure's parents are U.S. citizens."
The conviction that triggered his arrest in July 2020 by ICE is more than 30 years old, and occurred when Shakoure was just 18 years old. Shakoure had been caught joyriding in a car that belonged to a friend but had been reported stolen. Just a few months later, Shakoure’s life took an unfortunate turn. He was convicted and imprisoned for 24-and-a-half-years for his association with a group involved in the 1990 New York City subway robbery and murder of Utah tourist Brian Watkins. Shakoure was unaware that any violence was about to occur and was not on the subway platform where the robbery and killing occurred. He was sentenced to 25 years-to-life for his non-violent unarmed association. The parole board released him early due to his excellent record while incarcerated. The documentary film “23 Reasons Why 23 Years is Enough” details the incident as well as Shakoure’s background and commitment to bettering himself.
When Shakoure was released in 2015, he already held a Bachelor of Science degree and a Master’s from the New York Theological Seminary. Since that time, he has been building a production company and forming and running From Bars II Beyond, a non-profit for at-risk youth media training with a focus on preventing their own incarceration.
Shakoure said, “I have been in this country for my entire life, other than a short couple of months because my father was serving in the United States Air Force. If it hadn’t been for his service to this country, I probably would have been born in Queens, New York. At the core of this case is a very large family of American citizens who are suffering. I can’t even fathom how my family is able to continue bearing the threat of my deportation. This unlawful arrest has disrupted my life and the lives of my family for the last three plus years.”
A wide circle of friends, family and associates have come together to ask you, Gov. Hochul for this pardon. With clemency from you, Shakoure can resume building his life after incarceration without the threat of being torn from his family’s arms. His fiancée and her two children will rest easy knowing that ICE officers will not invade their home and take their loved ones again.
Shakoure has already served his time. He grew into a thoughtful, careful, creative, and upstanding member of society, despite the decades he spent behind bars. The undersigned petitioners need him here, and New York is better with Shakoure in it. Thank you for your consideration.
For more about his case visit the Facebook group Free Pascual Shakoure Charpentier. Or visit https://www.preventfamilyseparation.org/