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http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/ne ... 576334.php

Claudia Martinez of Huntington Beach finds herself in a strange position. She's more worried about her brother's safety while he's in prison than she was when he was a U.S. Border Patrol agent battling criminals on the dangerous U.S.-Mexico border.

"It's a constant worry," Martinez, 29, says of her brother, Jose Compean. "I just fear for his safety."

And it's not an unreasonable fear. Because Martinez's brother is one of two high-profile former Border Patrol agents who are serving lengthy prison sentences for shooting an illegal alien drug smuggler in the butt.

You've probably heard about the case. It started in February 2005, when Border Patrol agents Compean and Ignacio Ramos were pursuing a suspicious van on the U.S. side of the border near El Paso, Texas.

The driver of the van – which was later found to contain 750 pounds of marijuana – bailed out of the vehicle and tried to flee back across the border on foot. There was a confrontation, some shots were fired by the agents – between 10 and 15, depending on whom you believe – and the smuggler was hit by one round in the left buttock before he made it back into Mexico. The agents later said that they thought the smuggler was armed, and that they didn't know they'd hit the guy.

Federal prosecutors say the two agents failed to report the shooting and tried to conceal it by disposing of their expended brass. If that's true, then the agents would rightly have been subject to administrative disciplinary measures by the Border Patrol. End of story.

But federal investigators and West Texas U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton took it much further. After finding and interviewing the smuggler in Mexico, they said the two Border Patrol agents had willfully and wantonly tried to kill an unarmed man as he was fleeing for his life – an account based almost entirely on the drug smuggler's word.

The agents were charged with a variety of federal offenses, including assault and firearms and civil rights violations. The drug smuggler was given immunity on the drug smuggling charges – and was brought back to the U.S. to receive free medical treatment at a U.S. military hospital – in return for testifying against the agents in the trial.

And a federal jury believed the smuggler, not the two agents, who also testified. Ramos and Compean were convicted and last month were sent off to prison for 11 and 12 years, respectively. Meanwhile, the smuggler and his lawyer reportedly plan to file a $5 million lawsuit against the Border Patrol.

As you might imagine, the case has set off a national firestorm, with congressmen such as Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Huntington Beach, and others demanding a pardon from President Bush and an investigation into the case. So far, no action has been taken.

The case has also angered many ordinary Americans – as I found out when I wrote about it last month. I've seldom had a column generate such outrage – outrage directed not at me but at federal prosecutors and the Bush administration.

True, some readers argued that if the agents tried to cover up the shooting – which may or may not be true – they must have known it was a crime. Others argued that it's wrong to second-guess a jury, which I generally tend to agree with. Then again, a jury also decided that O.J. Simpson didn't kill two people.

Still, when you boil the case down to its essence – two Border Patrol agents given lengthy prison terms for putting a bullet in the butt of an acknowledged illegal alien drug smuggler – it seems clear that the punishment didn't fit the crime, even if there was one.

And while the legal appeals and hopes for a pardon continue, Claudia Martinez and other family members of the two agents have to wonder if they'll survive being locked up in a prison system full of their former enemies – that is, drug smugglers and illegal aliens.

According to news reports last week, former agent Ramos was attacked by five other inmates while in the "general population" at a low- to medium-security federal prison complex. Prison officials said his injuries were "minor," and he has since been placed in isolation from other inmates.

Meanwhile, Compean is being held in isolation in another federal prison in the Northeast. (Although the specific prison has been named in the news media, Martinez asked me not to further publicize it for security reasons.) Although it's officially a "low security" prison, it's still a prison, not a "Club Fed" or a "Camp Cupcake" of the sort where white-collar convicts like Martha Stewart wound up. Martinez says that although her brother is safer in isolation, it's a hard way to do time, with no TV privileges and very limited phone calls.

The upside of all this, Martinez says, is that public pressure to re-examine the case continues to build.

"With all the public pressure, somebody has to start paying attention," Martinez says.

"Because this is just wrong."

If you want to sound off on this issue, pro or con, you can call the White House "comment line" at 202-456-1111 during weekday business hours East Coast time, or call Rep. Rohrabacher's Orange County office at 714-960-6483 during business hours. A Chino-based nonprofit organization called Friends of the Border Patrol is assisting the Compean family; you can contact the organization at www.friendsoftheborderpatrol.com or simply search for Friends of the Border Patrol on the Internet.

Contact the writer: Contact Dillow at 714-796-7953 or GLDillow@aol.com

I would say Mrs. Martinez has a great right to fear for her brother's safety. If these men are not given a pardon or bail to wait for an appeal, I fear these men will be killed in prison. If they are the blood is on our ATT. Gen, Gonzales, and on our President's hand, no matter if the proof can be found, we all know where this prosecution came from, it did not start with Johnny Sutton either, we know where it started.

Nitty in your mind where did this crapola start?

i say it was the phone calls and the nosy BP agent in Az who is the childhood friend of the doper

Originally Posted by jamesw62

Nitty in your mind where did this crapola start?

i say it was the phone calls and the nosy BP agent in Az who is the childhood friend of the doper

James, in my mind this call to prosecute the Border Guards came all the way from the top of our Justice Dept, with the permission of this administration

I meed to change that "we know" to I know in my old bones, I should not let my opinion reflect on other members of Alipac, this is my opinion!

I can't find the edit button on here, I need to change the name of that weasley prosecutor to Johnny Sutton, lol I have a neighbor named Suttmiller, got them mixed up!

Originally Posted by nittygritty

I can't find the edit button on here, I need to change the name of that weasley prosecutor to Johnny Sutton, lol I have a neighbor named Suttmiller, got them mixed up!

Edited! Don't need to do that to your neighbor do we?

Naw, he is pretty good to help out if I need it!