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Cuomo pardons 59 people

(AP) Gov. Andrew Cuomo has pardoned 59 people for nonviolent crimes, including 18 immigrants whose years-old convictions put them at risk of deportation despite otherwise law-abiding lives.

The governor announced his latest clemency grants Wednesday.

Cuomo has issued several previous immigration-related pardons. They don't automatically end deportation proceedings but allow someone to petition for relief.

Wednesday's announcement also includes 39 “youth pardons” to clear the records of people who were 16 or 17 when convicted and have been crime-free since.

Cuomo also commuted the sentences of two longtime prison inmates, allowing their release but not erasing their convictions. Cuomo's office notes that Michael Flournoy became an HIV/AIDS counselor while serving his attempted murder sentence, and Dominic Dupont became an at-risk youth counselor while serving a murder sentence.