Markham Mayor Roger Agpawa is seeking a pardon from President Joe Biden in an attempt to clear a 1999 federal fraud conviction that initially made the mayor ineligible for office.

It took a change in state law before Agpawa could officially hold office, and he said he believes “having closure is the right and fair thing to do” as far as clearing his record.

Agpawa was elected to his first term in 2017, but at the time he was ineligible to serve due to state law that prohibits felons from holding municipal office. Agpawa pleaded guilty in federal court to mail fraud in 1999 for his role in an insurance scheme.

Agpawa served 300 hours of community service, three years’ probation and paid $20,000 in restitution.

He said Monday that although his right to hold office was restored, that did not clear the federal conviction from his record.

“The sentence seems to go on in a society until we get this additional document, of a pardon or clemency,” said Agpawa, 63. “I still have something overshadowing me.”

He said under his leadership “we have improved the quality of life for the people of Markham,” including new infrastructure work and city services.

Agpawa said when he was first elected the city had a deficit of $11 million, “but now we have balanced budgets.”

The Illinois General Assembly in May 2021 approved changes to state election law. The changes revised qualifications to hold municipal office by amending the Illinois Election Code and was signed into law by Gov. JB Pritzker.

Agpawa had been permitted to take office after former Gov. Bruce Rauner, in September 2018, signed a Restoration of Rights of Citizenship certificate. He had the title of mayor-elect before formally being sworn in after Rauner’s action.

In the interim, before the governor’s action, Ernest Blevins, Markham senior trustee, served as interim mayor.

“The restoration of rights made me whole in Illinois but not the rest of the country,” Agpawa said Monday. With the felony conviction for instance, he cannot carry a gun.Three Markham residents sued to challenge Agpawa’s eligibility to hold office.

A lower court upheld Agpawa’s right to serve as mayor, but an April 2021 state appellate court ruling determined that Rauner lacked the authority to overrule state election law when he restored Agpawa’s citizenship rights.

In the 2-1 decision, the appeals court found that “Agpawa is not eligible to seek or hold municipal office in Illinois.”

Agpawa received more than 80% of the vote in his bid for a second term in April 2021.

In August 2021, the state Supreme Court ruled Agpawa was eligible to be mayor.

The Supreme Court cited the legislation approved that May regarding the eligibility of felons to hold municipal office and that Pritzker signed the measure into law that June.

Agpawa needed a presidential pardon or a change in state law to undo the consequences of his federal mail fraud conviction, as far as his eligibility to hold office. He said the pardon “is the only real way to get completion” and have his record cleared.

“You are really not complete or whole until that process is done,” he said.

Agpawa said he has been in the fire service for 49 years, including 30 years in Markham, and was fire chief in the city and in Country Club Hills. He continues to be an assistant chief in Country Club Hills, but said he plans to retire in the coming year.

He intends to seek a third term as mayor next year and is so far unopposed.

Agpawa said he has not actively sought out letters of support for his pardon from area mayors but reached out to congressional leaders, including U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly.

He said should his attempt at gaining a pardon from Biden fall short, he would seek it from Donald Trump once he takes office.

“This would be ongoing for me,” Agpawa said.