Court denies appeal of smuggler whose perjured testimony helped convict Agents Ramos and Compean

Wednesday, 01 July 2009

On June 29, 2009, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals denied Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila's motion to have his nine-and-a-half year prison term reduced. He received that sentence after pleading guilty to smuggling nearly a ton of marijuana on two separate occasions while paroled into the United States to testify against Border Patrol Agents Ignacio "Nacho" Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean.

While the Fifth Circuit's decision is certainly welcome news, it in no way compensates for the injustice suffered by Agents Ramos and Compean. Although their lengthy prison sentences were finally commuted by President Bush just before he left office, the stigma of guilt for crimes that they did not commit still follows them around. Their attorneys will be filing motions to set aside their original sentences with the U.S. District Court in El Paso, Texas. Based upon all of the evidence that has come to light since their trial, it is hoped that justice will finally prevail.

http://www.nbpc.net/index.php?option=co ... 7&Itemid=1

Read Decision here

http://www.nbpc.net/images/litigation/2 ... davila.pdf