Mario Benitez, 58, served jail time for a 1988 drug crime and was up for deportation. However, New York governor David Patterson decided that Mr. Benitez had changed his ways and was a worthy citizen. He issued the pardon yesterday. Benitez, a father of four, works as the assistant to the Finance Director at the City University of New York, which handles a US$60 million dollar budget. He has become well known as a community leader in the Riverdale section of the Bronx. Benitez studied accounting and passed the state examination while he was serving his three-year sentence in Attica Prison. Patterson said that the deportation of people like Mr. Benitez was “arbitrary”, and “excessively tough”, according to El Caribe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mario Benitez, 58, served jail time for a 1988 drug crime and was up for deportation. However, New York governor David Patterson decided that Mr. Benitez had changed his ways and was a worthy citizen. He issued the pardon yesterday. Benitez, a father of four, works as the assistant to the Finance Director at the … <\/p>\n