In one of his final acts as governor, John Baldacci signed an order Wednesday pardoning a Portland man who faced deportation to Cambodia because of a drunken-driving crash that killed his sister 10 years ago.
Touch Rin Svay was 21 and at home on leave from the Marine Corps when he lost control of the 1991 Acura he was driving and crashed on Route 85 in Raymond, killing his 19-year-old sister, Sary.
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Svay was convicted of vehicular manslaughter, drunken driving and aggravated assault, and received a six-year sentence.
Although he had lived in the United States since he was 4, he faced likely deportation because he was born to Cambodian parents in a refugee camp on the Thai border. He does not speak Cambodian and has no ties to that country.
The sentencing judge said deporting Svay would be “a horrible and unjust resolution.” Svay’s immigration attorney, Beth Stickney, said Svay’s only way to stay in the country was a pardon, a rarely used power the governor has to forgive crimes.
Baldacci said in a prepared statement that he issued the pardon largely because of Sary Svay’s two children and Touch Rin Svay’s role in supporting them.
“He has complied with the terms of his sentence, and has turned his life around,” Baldacci said. “But, in my mind, he continues to have an obligation to his sister’s two children — his niece and nephew — to be involved in their lives and to explain to them his actions. He is actively involved in their lives, and his debt cannot be fully repaid unless he maintains that supporting role.”
Touch Rin Svay graduated from Portland High School in 1998 and immediately joined the Marines. He had permanent-resident status in the U.S. but never became a citizen.
After his conviction — and for years afterward — his mother, Soeun Em, feared that her son would be sent to Cambodia, the country she fled while she was pregnant with him. On Wednesday, she was relieved and happy with the governor’s decision.
“He’s like my heart,” she said of her son in an interview at her home in Portland. A decade after the crash, he has settled down, works hard at his job selling cell phones and is much wiser, she said.
Svay, too, is thrilled by the governor’s decision, she said. He was celebrating with friends and could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Svay is still haunted by his sister’s death, and has trouble talking about it because it is so painful, she said.
Tears gathering in her eyes, Soeun Em said the night of the crash was beyond terrible. “My daughter passed away. My son was in jail. It was too hard. I cannot explain,” she said.
Svay and his family felt in recent weeks that there was a strong chance the pardon would be approved, but they’d had their hopes dashed before.
The governor agreed to pardon Svay in 2004, but just hours before the order was signed, Svay admitted to minor infractions that violated his probation. He was sentenced to five months in jail, the pardon was put on hold and Svay again faced deportation.
Subsequently, federal authorities delayed initiating deportation proceedings against him. He went to work and stayed out of trouble.
The pardon — signed Wednesday morning, before Paul LePage was inaugurated and succeeded Baldacci — means the conviction for the 2001 car crash, as well as separate convictions for disorderly conduct and criminal trespass, are officially forgiven.
“Rin committed a terrible crime, one that took the life of his sister,” Baldacci said. “But he has, over the last five years, demonstrated a commitment to atone for his error.”
Sari Svay’s children, a son who is 11 and a daughter who’s 9, now live with their father in Portland. Touch Rin Svay is a big part of their life.
Svay will tell his story as part of an anti-drunken driving education effort.
“Perhaps his message will save another family from the unimaginable horror of losing a wife, sister and mother at the hands of a drunken driver,” Baldacci said.
Peter Cyr, one of Svay’s lawyers, described the pardon as welcome and long overdue.
“He can have a new start,” Cyr said. “He lost a lot when his sister passed away and that was certainly a huge punishment for him.”
Baldacci also announced the pardon of another man who faced deportation.
Paul Blakesley was pardoned for a burglary he committed in 1993, when he was 18, and three marijuana offenses.
Retroactive changes in immigration laws left him facing deportation to England, where his family had come from when he was 5.
Deportation would have separated him from his wife and child or forced them to leave the country, Baldacci said.
“Neither of these men would have received pardons had they not been facing deportation to countries in which they have no ties or connections and if the consequences of that deportation would not have added new victims to their cases,” Baldacci said.
Staff Writer David Hench can be contacted at 791-6327 or at:
dhench@pressherald.com
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