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Guyanese among two ex-cons pardoned by NY Governor

Jan 03, 2015 News

NEW YORK, CMC – New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has pardoned two Caribbean-born ex-convicts of robbery and drug charges that threatened their immigration status.
Cuomo, in exercising his seldomly-used pardon power, granted pardons to Cuban-born, Manhattan architect Antonio Argibay, 62, and Guyanese-born, Queens resident Alvaro Khalil Cumberbatch, 33, saying they had been “active and engaged” in the community since their release and deserved a clean record.
The positive contributions to society by both of these individuals in the years since their release support the case for justice to be delivered through clemency,” Cuomo said.
Argibay served three years in prison after pleading guilty to drug charges in 1976.
He received his master’s degree from the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn while still on parole, and has been a licensed architect in New York for more than 30 years.
Argibay is an active volunteer with Upwardly Global, a non-profit organisation that assists immigrants.
“I’m very emotional right now,” said Argibay, a US permanent resident, who runs his own architectural firm in Manhattan. “I’ve been seeking redemption for 39 years.”
Cumberbatch, who lives in Springfield Gardens in Queens, was convicted of robbery in 2003 and after his release in 2010, became involved with prison re-entry organisations and sits on the board of the Alternatives to Violence Project.
Cumberbatch is a married father of two young children and owns his own social media consulting business.
“If I tried to tell you who would be poster child for rehabilitation, it would be Khalil,” said JoAnne Page, President of the Fortune Society, which assists prisoners in re-entering society.
“He just did so much that you hope people would do against the usual odds, everything from working a job, building a consulting business, being there for his family, helping other people,” she said, adding that Cumberbatch, who migrated to the US from Guyana as a child, was taken into custody by US federal immigration authorities last year, and released in October.
“The positive contributions to society by both of these individuals in the years since their release support the case for justice to be delivered through clemency,” said Cuomo in a statement, noting that applications for clemency have dropped from a high of 1,269 in 2010 to 171 in 2014.

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