Slick Rick Pardoned For Attempted Murder

New York Gov. David Paterson has pardoned Ricky "Slick Rick [ tickets ]" Walters, who was convicted in 1991 on attempted murder and weapons charges, according to published reports. Walters, who now faces deportation to the United Kingdom, pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted murder and eight weapons charges in connection with an incident in which he shot his cousin and an innocent bystander.He served six years of a 3.5-to-10-year term. Walters was released from prison in 1997 and discharged from parole supervision in 2000.Walters, who lawfully entered the US at the age of 11, was raised in the Bronx, where he still resides with his wife and two teenage children. He is facing deportation due to a federal statute that mandates the removal of lawful resident aliens upon conviction of an aggravated felony or weapons offense.Walters sought and received relief from deportation in 1995, but the decision was later vacated. Now that Gov. Paterson has issued a "full and unconditional" pardon, Walters can re-apply to remain in the US. Walters' pardon was the governor's first. Paterson's predecessor, Eliot Spitzer, during his time in office granted a pardon request for a Jamaican man who was convicted of robbery and faced deportation under circumstances similar to Walters' case, according to the New York Daily News. Ex-Gov. George Pataki posthumously pardoned Lenny Bruce in 2003--39 years after Bruce was convicted on obscenity charges.