Wahlberg had been in trouble 20–25 times with the
Boston Police Department in his youth. By age 13, Wahlberg had developed an addiction to
cocaine and other substances.
[9][10] At fifteen, he harassed a group of black school children on a
field trip by throwing rocks and shouting racial
epithets.
[11] At 16, Wahlberg approached a middle-aged Vietnamese man on the street and, using a large wooden stick, knocked him unconscious. He also attacked another Vietnamese man, leaving him permanently blind in one eye.
[12][13]
For these crimes, Wahlberg was charged with
attempted murder, pleaded guilty to assault, and was sentenced to two years in state prison at Boston's
Deer Island House of Correction, of which he served 45 days.
[12][14] In another incident, the 21-year-old Wahlberg fractured the jaw of a neighbor in an unprovoked attack.
[15] Commenting in 2006 on his past crimes, Wahlberg has stated: "I did a lot of things that I regret, and I have certainly paid for my mistakes." He said the right thing to do would be to try to find the blinded man and make amends, and admitted he has not done so, but added that he was no longer burdened by guilt: "You have to go and ask for forgiveness and it wasn't until I really started doing good and doing right by other people, as well as myself, that I really started to feel that guilt go away. So I don't have a problem going to sleep at night. I feel good when I wake up in the morning."
[16]
I don't even bother arguing with them anymore.
though
