Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe Says He Will Pardon His Own Son On Drug Charge

Gov. Mike Beebe says he will pardon his 34-year-old son, Kyle, for a felony crime in 2003.

“Mr. Governor, I am asking for a second chance at life. I am asking for a second chance to be the man that I know that I can be,” Kyle Beebe wrote in his pardon application to his father.

KATV reports that Kyle Beebe was charged in 2003 with possession of a controlled substance, marijuana, with intent to deliver, a class C felony.

Gov. Beebe (D) was serving as the state’s attorney general when Kyle was given 3 years probation. When his son was arrested, Gov. Beebe said, “If he broke the law, he needs to pay for it. He needs to be treated like everybody else-no better, worse.”

Things sure change quickly.

“I would have done it a long time ago if he’d have asked, but he took his sweet time about asking. He was embarrassed. He’s still embarrassed, and frankly, I was embarrassed and his mother was embarrassed. All of the families that go through that, it’s tough on the families, but hopefully the kids learn,” Beebe now says.

“Kids when they’re young do stupid stuff. He was no different. Liked to have broken his mother’s heart. His mother and I were stereotypical parents from the different end of the spectrum. She was the enabler that tried to fix everything. I was the nuclear bomb thrower that thought you ought to shoot him. Somewhere between those two extremes was probably the right thing to do,” Beebe said.

Kyle Beebe wrote his father in order to ask for the pardon.

“At the time of my arrest I was living in a fantasy world, not reality. I was young and dumb. At that time in my life I felt like I was missing something and I tried to fill that emptiness by selling drugs,” Kyle Beebe wrote.

“I am asking for a second chance to be a better son to my parents and prove to them that I am the person they raised me to be,” Kyle Beebe wrote.

According to a spokesman for the Arkansas Parole Board, Kyle did not get special treatment.

Watch courtesy KATV:
KATV – Breaking News, Weather and Razorback Sports

H/T: The incomparable @CarlaAkins with thanks.

 

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