House moves to free jailed border agents
House moves to free jailed border agents
Two were convicted of convicted of shooting Mexican drug dealer in 2005
Updated: 12:05 a.m. ET July 26, 2007
WASHINGTON - The House on Wednesday approved a move by conservative Republicans to try to set free two Border Patrol agents convicted of shooting a Mexican drug dealer.
After a long, emotional debate, the House voted by voice to block the Bureau of Prisons from keeping former agents Ignacio Ramos and Alonso Compean in federal prison. Ramos and Compean are serving 11- and 12-year federal prison sentences, respectively, for the 2005 shooting of Osvaldo Aldrete Davila on the Texas border near El Paso.
The case has caused a furor among conservative lawmakers and on talk radio across the country.
The agents shot him in the buttocks as he fled, but got rid of crucial evidence and failed to report the incident as required. They later found a load of marijuana in the van but U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton said there was no proof to tie the drugs to Aldrete so he could not prosecute him.
“The Ramos and Compean conviction has been the greatest misjustice that I have seen, and I have seen a lot,â€