Mark Wahlberg is now one of Hollywood’s most successful actors and producers, and the 43-year-old is hoping his prestigious career will help erase a violent assault conviction he acquired as a teenager. Wahlberg reportedly applied for a pardon to the Massachusetts Board of Pardons on Nov. 26, stating that, since his conviction, he has dedicated himself to “becoming a better person and citizen.”

On the night of April 8, 1988, 16-year-old Wahlberg tried to steal two cases of beer from Vietnamese man Thanh Lam outside a convenience store on Dorchester Avenue. According to police, Wahlberg hit Lam over the head with a wooden stick and called him a string of racial slurs before he arrested and charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and possession of a controlled substance. He served 45 days of a 90-day sentence at the Deer Island House of Correction.

“Since that time, I have dedicated myself to becoming a better person and citizen so that I can be a role model to my children and others,” wrote Wahlberg in the application filed with the Board of Pardons.

The star went on to prove his point by stating that he runs his own charity, the Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation, and supports the Dorchester Boys and Girls Club.

“I have not engaged in philanthropic efforts in order to make people forget about my past. To the contrary, I want people to remember my past so that I can serve as an example of how lives can be turned around and how people can be redeemed.”

He admitted that a pardon also be helpful for his family’s restaurant business, since they recently announced plans to open 27 more locations of their Wahlburgers chain.

“Receiving a pardon would be a formal recognition that I am not the same person that I was on the night of April 8, 1988. It would be formal recognition that someone like me can receive official public redemption if he devotes himself to personal improvement and a life of good works.”