http://www.sbsun.com/ci_5312632
DEA files cast new suspicion on smuggler
Sara A. Carter, Staff Writer
San Bernardino County Sun
Article Launched:02/27/2007 12:00:00 AM PST

The Mexican national shot by two Border Patrol agents in a drug-related incident in February 2005 brought a second vanload of drugs into the U.S. while he waited to testify against the agents, according to Drug Enforcement Agency reports obtained by the Daily Bulletin.
Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila - who was given immunity by U.S. prosecutors in exchange for testifying against former agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean - is the focus of a November 2005 DEA report that identifies him as the person responsible for stashing more than 750 pounds of marijuana in a van parked at a house in Clint, Texas, in October of that year.

"(A witness) stated that Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila was the individual that dropped off the 1990 Chevy Astro van," according to the DEA document. "This van contained approximately 6 bundles of marijuana."

DEA interviews with the Clint house's owner, Cipriano Ortiz-Hernandez, led to his brother, Jose Ortiz, who told DEA agents that Aldrete-Davila had moved the narcotics from Juarez to El Paso, adding that the van Aldrete-Davila was driving needed work, so he referred him to his mechanic brother, Cipriano.

"Jose Ortiz thought for a minute, and then stated that we should know Davila's identity because he is the person who was shot by Border Patrol agents six months ago," the report states.

Cipriano Ortiz-Hernandez also identified Aldrete-Davila as the van's driver after seeing a photo array, according to the DEA documents.

Aldrete-Davila was shot in the buttocks after fleeing a van filled with marijuana and running away from Border Patrol agents in a February 2005 incident near Fabens, Texas, about seven miles from Clint.

Ramos and Compean are now serving 11 and 12 years, respectively, in federal prison after being convicted in March of assault with a deadly weapon, attempting to cover up their actions, and for violating Aldrete-Davila's civil rights.

Both men testified that they thought Aldrete-Davila had a gun in his hand while they were chasing him and that they feared for their lives when they fired at him.

Aldrete-Davila was given immunity to testify against the agents, along with a special border-crossing pass and free medical treatment at a U.S. Army medical center.

Western District of Texas U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton, whose office prosecuted Ramos and Compean, has denied numerous times that Aldrete-Davila brought a second load of narcotics into the United States after being granted immunity.

Sutton said in a Jan. 17 "Myths vs. Reality" news release that "Aldrete has not been subsequently arrested for drug smuggling. Our office is in the business of prosecuting drug traffickers and alien smugglers ... If we had a provable case against Aldrete, we would prosecute him."

Sutton's assertion that Aldrete-Davila has not been arrested is accurate. However, an Oct. 25, 2005, DEA report shows that DEA investigators believed they had sufficient evidence to indict Aldrete-Davila, but their requests to do so were denied by prosecutors.

According to a high-level source close to the investigation, Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura Gregory was notified in October 2005 that Aldrete- Davila was being investigated by the DEA and that the agency had new evidence against him.

Gregory dismissed the warning, the source said.

Shana Jones, special assistant to Sutton, said she could not comment on Gregory's meeting with the DEA, or on the DEA documents.

"We have posted the transcript of the (agents') trial," Jones said. "We are not going to comment about matters that are under seal or are ongoing investigations."