Now Mark McCloskey Is Trying to Get His Conviction Expunged

St. Louis' most famous misdemeanant is again litigating issues around his crime — this time filing paperwork seeking an expungement.

Mark McCloskey, who pleaded guilty in 2021 to misdemeanor assault after brandishing weapons at protestors walking through their gated community in the Central West End, filed the request yesterday in St. Louis Circuit Court. If granted, it would seal the records of his conviction.

McCloskey, a personal injury attorney, was previously pardoned for his crime by Governor Mike Parson, as was his wife Patricia. (Patricia McCloskey, who also brandished a gun at protesters, previously pleaded guilty to harassment, also a misdemeanor.)

But McCloskey has been unsuccessful in his efforts to reclaim the guns he surrendered as part of his plea deal, losing in circuit court as well as the appellate level. He has also been unable to get a refund for the $872.50 he paid in fines.

His newly filed expungement petition is a two-page form document. In it, McCloskey swears that it's been at least one year since his conviction, that he has not been found guilty of any other offense and that he's paid all fines associated with the offense. He also attested that "[m]y habits and conduct demonstrate that I am not a threat to the public safety of the state" and that the expungement is "consistent with the public welfare and the interests of justice warrant the expungement."

Now it will be up to a judge in the St. Louis Circuit Court to decide whether McCloskey isn't actually a threat to the public safety of the state, and whether expungement really would be consistent with public welfare. Under Missouri law, the prosecutor, who in this case was former U.S. Attorney Richard Callahan, will also be able to weigh in.

In other words, Mark McCloskey has again managed to extend his 15 minutes of fame. He may not have won that bid for U.S. Senate, and he doesn't have his guns, but we're all still talking about him four years after he rode his arrest to a speaking slot at the Republican National Convention. And maybe that counts as winning.



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