A San Francisco Chinatown activist who spent 19 years in prison for a robbery he committed when he was 16 has received a full pardon from California Governor Jerry Brown, reports SF Gate.
“It validates my transformation and my rehabilitation,” said Zheng, 45, who received the good news Easter Sunday. “And it validates my supporters.”
He is currently the project director of the San Francisco Community Youth Center. He has won the support of the community and numerous politicians including the San Francisco Board of Supervisors which urged the governor to pardon him.
He was convicted along with two other teens for tying up a family and robbing their Chinatown business in 1986. He was sentenced to life in prison, but paroled in 2005.
Zheng has served on numerous mayoral commissions, but could still face deportation for his crimes. He hopes the pardon will bolster his case with immigration when it comes up in May.
I had a chance to meet Zheng and hear him speak during a community meeting. He is passionate about the importance of rehabilitating inmates and his belief that they are capable of leaving their criminal past behind. He is certainly a shining example.
You can read about some of the service Zheng has done for the city and some of the 82 others pardoned by Brown in SF Gate.
