Thursday, December 31, 2009

Governor pardons army man for gun charge

From the Daily News:

Gov. David Paterson has pardoned a former Army paratrooper who did time on a felony weapons charge in 2002 so the Queens resident can pursue his dream of becoming a police officer.

Paterson said Osvaldo Hernandez "has demonstrated that individuals can turn their lives around and that we need not let our mistakes define us."

At the age of 20, Hernandez pleaded guilty to criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree in 2002 and sentenced to a year in prison. He served eight months and enlisted in the Army as soon as he was released and went on to become a decorated specialist with the 82nd Airborne Division.

Hernandez's felony conviction prevented him from being allowed to carry a gun, which scuttled his dream of becoming a member of the NYPD.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

good

Anonymous said...

The military will take anyone,he should not be a cop.

Anonymous said...

"The military will take anyone,he should not be a cop".

As a soldier, Hernandez was awarded numerous citations and medals. His former commanding officer wrote a glowing recommendation calling Hernandez, among other things, "one of the best" with "tremendous leadership ability" and "an outstanding asset to any organization he becomes a part of."

Yeah, why would we like to have a guy like that in the NYPD?

Anonymous said...

Courage, duty, loyalty to country, ye, why would anyone want someone like that on the police force?

Anonymous said...

"The military will take anyone,he should not be a cop."

Yea it should remain an Italian Irish and a nassau/suffolk county only club...

Anonymous said...

It shows that if you make a sacrifice for your country and pay your debt to society and the US that you can turn your life around and be somebody. He is a role model for all these wannabe gang bangers in jail and shows it is not too late to make something of yourselves.

Congrats Mr. Hernandez.

Georges said...

This should be reversed, the Gov is a stupid man who should be tossed out of office for being incompetent. We should not wait till the next election.

Anonymous said...

It should take more than just having a killer instinct (decorated or not) to qualify anyone becoming a cop.

Brains besides knuckles are required too!

I wouldn't want to face that mug in a pat down frisk...be he Irish or Italian either. Would you?

Anonymous said...

He does look like one mean mother f-----g knucklehead for sure!

Anonymous said...

So what do you want a paratrooper to do? Wear lace women's panties and drink tea with his fingers out?

NYPD is a paramilitary force. Cops have to have discipline, be able to handle having people shoot at them and be physically and mentally tough, all things that the armed forces train.

Furthermore, the paratroopers are an elite force and discipline problems are not welcome.

Anonymous said...

The Guv should allow him to become a NYS State Trooper and assign him to his personal security detail.

gay cop said...

I know a lot of fellow "officers" (some former paratroopers) WHO DO wear lace panties when they meet at the gay bars!

(Alice blue gowns...they're called).

Don't ask....don't tell!

Anonymous said...

Re: the lace panties.

Well, I meant it metaphorically, but then some gay guys are pretty tough mothers too.

Happy New Year, stay well.

Anonymous said...

He carried a gun,it is against the law in nyc.Plenty of perps have gone into the military instead of doing time. Do you really think the anti-gun mayor would let this guy on the nypd?

Anonymous said...

Personally, I would rather see a man who made a mistake as a 20-year old knucklehead and then redeemed himself through years of honorable military service, than the draft-dodging coke-using ex-president we had who made all those "youthful mistakes" in his 30's.