Thread: Border Agent Prosecutor Under Fire Over Drug Informer Case

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Border Agent Prosecutor Under Fire Over Drug Informer Case
By Fred Lucas
CNSNews.com Staff Writer
February 28, 2007

(CNSNews.com) - Critics of the federal prosecutor who brought the case against two U.S. Border Patrol agents for shooting a Mexican suspected drug smuggler are accusing him of hypocrisy. They point to his involvement in an earlier anti-narcotics operation in which a paid informer allegedly committed murder but was allowed to continue his undercover role.

U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton has said that law enforcement officials must be held to the same legal standards as everyone else.

At issue is a case that has been dubbed the House of Death, after a house in the Mexican border town of Juarez where the bodies of 13 people allegedly tortured and killed by members of a drug cartel were found.

An undercover informant for U.S. law enforcement agencies, Guillermo Ramirez Peyro, infiltrated the cartel and allegedly participated in at least one of the killings.

Federal officials knew about his role in the first one, in August 2003, yet Sutton and others allowed him to continue as an informant for nearly six months, during which more murders took place.

Ramirez's lawyer said he witnessed two murders and had knowledge of all of them. Federal officials say they did not know of the murders that occurred after the first one (see related story).

The San Antonio, Texas-based Sutton has come under fire in recent months for prosecuting former border agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, who are now serving 11- and 12-year jail terms respectively.

Many members of Congress have called for hearings into the border agent's case, but one of them, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) now wants the earlier case of the informant investigated as well.

"We should look at the House of Death case and possible wrongdoing by federal officials," Rohrabacher told Cybercast News Service.

"Sutton has gone over the line in attacking Ramos and Compean. It makes it more believable and suggests abuse was possible in the House of Death case," he said.

In an interview last month about the Ramos-Compean case, Sutton told Cybercast News Service, "When a federal agent violates the law and commits a crime, we can't say, well, we prosecute criminals unless they're federal agents.

"That's what separates America from a lot of other countries. American cops are the good guys, they abide by the law and they tell the truth. When they don't, we do hold them accountable."

Retired Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) official Sandalio Gonzales, a vocal critic of how the Juarez operation was conducted, took issue with Sutton's comments.

Comparing the Juarez case to the Ramos-Compean case, Gonzales said, "It's hypocrisy at its best, or at its worst, however you see it.

"What does it say when agents allow 13 people to be murdered and he isn't holding anyone accountable?" asked Gonzalez, who was part of the multi-agency Juarez cartel investigation but later complained that the U.S. Attorney's office and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency had withheld important information from the DEA.

"He [Sutton] prosecuted those poor bastards, but refused to take a stand with the House of Death."

Rohrabacher, too, has a harsh assessment of Sutton.

"Congress has an obligation as a separate branch of government to watch the executive branch and rein in an out-of-control prosecutor that is a danger to the American people," the congressman said. "Arrogance and disregard for human beings lends credibility to the bad things in the past."

Wrongful death lawsuit

Asked about the House of Death case and the accusations of hypocrisy, Sutton told Cybercast News Service he could not comment on any aspect of the case because of ongoing litigation. His office then asked for questions to be sent in writing and forwarded to the Justice Department. The office later reiterated that there would be no comment.

Relatives of some of those murdered in Juarez brought a wrongful death case in Texas last September against the federal government and want Ramirez to be their key witness.

But Ramirez is fighting an ICE effort to deport him back to Mexico, where he fears he would face retaliation from the drug cartel.

Gonzalez believes the deportation effort is part of a cover-up to prevent the former informant from testifying.

"This whole thing is to protect Johnny Sutton," he alleged.

Beyond the border agents' case, Sutton has also been criticized for prosecuting Rocksprings, Texas Sheriff's Deputy Gilmer Hernandez, who stopped a van filled with illegal immigrants for running a stop sign in April 2005 and fired his gun at the vehicle when it attempted to drive away.

A bullet hit a Mexican woman in the mouth. Hernandez was convicted by a jury on a felony civil rights violation and will be sentenced in March.

The Hernandez case hasn't received the same type of national attention as the Ramos-Compean case, although like the border agents' case, it was featured on "America's Most Wanted."

Media coverage of the House of Death case has been relatively limited, which puzzles Gonzalez.

"The mainstream media has just backed off," he said.

The story was first reported on Internet news site, The Narcosphere, which has been the most aggressive in covering the story. Other than that, scattered reports have appeared in some Texas newspapers and a British publication. In its investigation, Cybercast News Service obtained government and court documents and conducted interviews.

Comparing the Juarez case to the Ramos-Compean case, Gonzales said, "It's hypocrisy at its best, or at its worst, however you see it.

"What does it say when agents allow 13 people to be murdered and he isn't holding anyone accountable?" asked Gonzalez, who was part of the multi-agency Juarez cartel investigation but later complained that the U.S. Attorney's office and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency had withheld important information from the DEA.

"He [Sutton] prosecuted those poor bastards, but refused to take a stand with the House of Death."

Sutton is corrupt as they come. He had too much power and should be fired and put in jail!

Rohrabacher, too, has a harsh assessment of Sutton

I think its safe to say we all have this same assessment!