Ex-Marine, father of seven seek pardons

PORTLAND – A former Marine and a father of seven from Kennebunk are the first two people to ask Gov. John Baldacci to pardon their convictions so they can avoid being deported.

Touch Rin Svay, 24, and James Ferguson, 55, appeared Thursday before the Governor’s Board on Executive Clemency at the State House.

Svay moved to the United States from Cambodia as a child and grew up in Maine. He was on leave from the Marine Corps on May 20, 2001, when he crashed his car into a utility pole in Raymond.

Svay pleaded guilty to manslaughter and other charges and served 18 months in prison.

Federal law requires the deportation of foreign nationals who receive sentences longer than one year, including the suspended portion. Since neither Svay nor his family became U.S. citizens, he faces deportation to a country he has never seen and where he barely speaks the language.

The only way Svay can avoid deportation is to have his conviction removed by a pardon from the governor, who has the power to pardon people who have already been convicted and punished for crimes.

Pardon applications are reviewed by the three-member Governor’s Board on Executive Clemency, which makes recommendations.

Maine’s clemency board has never been asked to prevent a deportation, but on Thursday there were two such requests on its docket.

In addition to Svay, Ferguson, of Kennebunk, who was convicted of misdemeanor unlawful sexual contact and assault in 1999, also requested a pardon that would prevent him from being deported to Scotland and separated from his seven children.

Ferguson served a 90-day sentence in the York County Jail, but was picked up by immigration authorities three years later and has been in custody ever since.

Clemency board chairwoman Anne Jordan said the cases present a difficult challenge for Baldacci and the advisory board. The applicants are asking for special treatment that would not necessarily be granted to citizens, she said.

“Should this board, and by extension Governor Baldacci, take steps that would override federal law?” Jordan asked.

Svay’s lawyer said he is the victim of a tightening of immigration laws.

“This is a very important case to me,” Beth Stickney said. “We have laws that are draconian and vindictive that attack immigrants.”

Family and friends of Ferguson pleaded for a pardon that would prevent his deportation.

In 1999, Ferguson pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual contact and assault, both misdemeanors, committed against two girls ages 14 and 15. They were the only crimes on his record, he said, and resulted from problems with alcohol, depression and a head injury.

If he is not pardoned, he will be deported and separated from his seven children.

The federal policies are too restrictive to provide justice, said Jodi Nofsigner, Ferguson’s lawyer.

“They do not take into account the humanity of a situation,” Nofsigner said. “They just push buttons and feed in the profile, and do whatever comes out.”

After the hearing, the pardon board met in secret to determine their recommendation to Baldacci. His decision is usually issued in two to three months, Jordan said.