CONCORD (AP) – A New Hampshire auto shop owner facing deportation to Lebanon for crimes committed 14 years ago has been denied a pardon that would have allowed him to remain in the country.

Alain Ata, 34, came to the U.S. with his family at age 10. He spent several years in prison for a pair of burglaries in December 2004. Since then he has opened an auto shop in Manchester. He takes care of his elderly parents and is engaged to be married. He told Gov. Chris Sununu and the governor’s Executive Council last week that he is an honest man with a good heart who has been punished enough for mistakes in his youth.

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