Gov. Kathy Hochul clemency order eases burden for 2 criminally convicted in Nassau County

Denise De Simone Fierro recalled being 21 in 1986 when she learned the steep downside of "hanging out with the wrong crowd" — getting arrested for trying to sell cocaine to an undercover Nassau police officer.

Peter Asan, who forever maintained his innocence, said he was convicted of aiding and abetting a 1985 robbery in Oceanside committed by a relative. Asan told Newsday on Tuesday he knew nothing about the robbery.

While they both served their sentences, the restrictions and the stigmas of felony records followed Fierro, 60, of Massapequa, and Asan, also 60, of Queens, for nearly four decades.

Their criminal histories can finally stay in the past as of Tuesday, when Gov. Kathy Hochul announced pardons for Fierro, Asan and nine other New Yorkers. The governor also commuted the sentences of two New Yorkers, meaning their respective appearances before the Board of Parole, which had been scheduled for several years in the future, will take place much sooner.

"This action recognizes people who have demonstrated remorse, exemplified rehabilitation and displayed a commitment to improving themselves and their communities," said a news release from Hochul's office.

Fierro told Newsday of receiving the pardon after filling out an application with the state: "I feel free, finally free."

Four decades ago, Fiero added, "I was young, dumb, stupid. ... It feels good to finally have something off my record. Life was hard, not being able to get a good job or anything like that."

Including Fierro and Asan, Hochul has now granted clemency to 120 people convicted in the state during her tenure, according to the news release.

Fierro recounted being arrested in 1986 after selling 2 grams of cocaine to an undercover cop.

"It was with the person that I was going out with at the time," she said. "We were set up by somebody that was trying to get out of trouble."

The following year, Fierro pleaded guilty to two counts of fifth-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance, according to the governor’s office. Although she was sentenced to probation and avoided prison, Fierro said her drug conviction scared off prospective employers.

"If I wanted to work somewhere like insurance, banking or whatever," she said, "it was like don’t even bother applying if you have a record because no one’s going to hire you."

Fierro said she eventually got "a decent job" with help from a state certificate of relief, which removed legal obstacles keeping her from employment with better pay. 

"Never in a million years did I think I was going to get approved for it," she said of the pardon. "I’m really happy that I’m one of 11 people that [Hochul] picked."

Asan agreed. He told Newsday he is "very grateful" to be among the group.

After he was separated from his family in Ecuador at age 12, Asan was forced to live with relatives in Oceanside, according to Matt Block, a doctoral student of sociology at the CUNY Graduate Center who worked with the New Sanctuary Coalition, a Brooklyn-based immigration advocacy group, to help Asan apply for the pardon. Seven years later, Asan was eating dinner with his relatives one evening when another family member "came in in a frenzy," Block said.

Asan "had no idea what was going on" but saw the relative "was not in a good mental state" and offered to give him a ride, Block told Newsday in a telephone interview. Asan's relative had just committed a robbery with someone else, Block told Newsday. Police suspected Asan was involved because he gave his relative a ride, according to Block. Asan was convicted of aiding and abetting a robbery and sent upstate to Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora.

He said he accepted a deal and pleaded guilty in 1989 to first-degree attempted robbery as way to get out of prison sooner.

"I was not at the scene of the crime," Asan told Newsday. "I was just doing a favor."

In the years following his release, Asan found work in the restaurant industry in Manhattan, raised a family and now owns a restaurant near Columbia University. Tuesday’s pardon wiped the felony conviction that barred him from achieving one lifelong goal.

"All his children are U.S. citizens, and now with the pardon," Block said, "he will also be eligible to be sponsored by his children for permanent residency."

Asan called the pardon "a blessing."

"Now we just move forward and continue with doing the right thing with our lives," Asan said of himself and his family. "We’re looking forward to a new beginning."

Correction: Matt Block is a doctoral student of sociology at the CUNY Graduate Center and a volunteer with the New Sanctuary Coalition. A previous version of this story incorrectly identified his title and profession.