Thread: Pressure to pardon border agents mounts

http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/ne ... 673235.htm

Posted on Sun, Feb. 11, 2007



Pressure to pardon border agents mounts
2 were imprisoned after being convicted of shooting suspected drug smuggler
EUNICE MOSCOSO
Cox News Service

WASHINGTON — Former Border Patrol agents Jose Alonso Compean and Ignacio Ramos have become famous in conservative circles, in a case that shows the power of talk radio and the blogosphere.

The two agents are serving prison sentences after being convicted of shooting a suspected drug smuggler and trying to cover up the incident. Many lawmakers in Washington are asking President Bush to pardon the agents, who they say were convicted wrongly for protecting the border of the United States against criminal intruders.

The agents — Jose Alonso Compean and Ignacio Ramos — were sentenced to 12 and 11 years in prison, respectively.

The calls for an executive pardon and a Congressional investigation intensified this week following reports that Ramos was assaulted in a Mississippi prison.

Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., an ardent critic of illegal immigration who is pondering a run for the White House, spent about an hour with Ramos at the jail on Friday and said Ramos had been severely beaten, with deep bruises along his arm, cuts and bruises on his chest, back and knees.

Ramos told the lawmaker he had been pummeled and kicked by five or six inmates on Saturday in a planned attack while others watched after they saw him on an episode of the television show “America’s Most Wanted.” Ramos did not get medical attention until Monday, the lawmaker added.

“This guy should never be walking around in an orange jumpsuit with handcuffs, he should be home with his family,” Tancredo said shortly after leaving the prison. “This is a horrible travesty.”

Ramos’ attorney, David L. Botsford, said that a motion is pending at the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to get bail for Ramos while he plans an appeal. A similar request was rejected by a district court, said Botsford, a prominent criminal defense attorney in Austin.

The plight of the two Border Patrol officers has become a major cause on conservative talk shows and on Web sites that promote more enforcement against illegal immigration.

The suspected drug smuggler, Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila, had entered the United States illegally in a van that contained more than 700 pounds of marijuana. The prosecution contends Compean shot at him 14 times and Ramos fired once, hitting Aldrete-Davila in the buttocks as he tried to run away. The agents contend Aldrete-Davila appeared to be pointing a gun at them.

Ramos and Compean were convicted a year ago on charges including assault with a deadly weapon and intentionally defacing a crime scene. Aldrete-Davila was given immunity in the case to testify against the agents and has filed a multimillion dollar lawsuit against the U.S. government.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said this week that the agents’ sentences were extreme. In a letter to Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick Leahy, she also said that “aggressive prosecution of Border Patrol agents has a chilling effect on their ability to carry out their duties and on the morale of all agents.”

T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, a union representing Border Patrol agents, said that the conviction and sentencing of Ramos and Compean has devastated agents along the border and that it is “a gross miscarriage of justice.”

U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton of San Antonio has stood by his prosecution.

“In America, law enforcement officers do not get to shoot unarmed suspects who are running away, lie about it to their supervisors and file official reports that are false,” Sutton said in a statement last month.

Several conservative lawmakers have been pushing for Bush to intervene in the case.

Rep. Brian Bilbray, R-Calif., chairman of the Immigration Reform Caucus, said in a statement that it is “unconscionable” for the Bush administration “to put the rights of a drug smuggler ahead of the rights of our own Border Patrol agents.”

Rep. Brian Bilbray, R-Calif., chairman of the Immigration Reform Caucus, said in a statement that it is “unconscionable” for the Bush administration “to put the rights of a drug smuggler ahead of the rights of our own Border Patrol agents.”

IMO, Bush and his entire administration are involved in this more than we know. They lied to get the border agents prosecuted and thought they could get away with it. This reeks beyond anything that any President has done. As far as I am concerned, Bush, Alberto Gonzales, Chertoff, Sutton, Cheney, and many others, should be found guilty of conspiracy and wrongful imprisonment. It also makes me wonder about the drug runner and why Bush and his group felt he should be given freedom in order to testify against the agents. What stakes/investments did Bush and his people have in this mess. Hmmmm.

I agree firecracker. I smell a bunch of big rats!

Ten-four.