Jan 14, 4:43 PM EST


Vigil supports convicted ex-border agents



EL PASO, Texas (AP) -- One of two former Border Patrol agents convicted of shooting and wounding a drug smuggling suspect and then concealing the evidence says he's confident his appeal will be successful.

Jose Alonso Compean said at a rally Saturday at San Jacinto Plaza held in support of him and another agent, Ignacio Ramos, that he was not thinking about Wednesday, when his sentence is set to begin.

"If I think about it, it's going to ruin the amount of time that I have left with my family," he said.

Compean was ordered to serve 12 years in prison. Ramos was sentenced to 11 years and one day. The men were ordered to report to prison by Wednesday.

The rally was one of about 10 in cities across the nation on Saturday in support of the two. Meanwhile, advocates and family members are trying to keep them out of prison through either a motion to U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone to allow the former agents to remain free on bond during an appeal, or a presidential pardon.

Compean and Ramos were found guilty in a jury trial before Cardone of violating the civil rights of Osvaldo Aldrete Davila by shooting him, then tampering with evidence by picking up shell casings from the shooting.

In exchange for his testimony against the Border Patrol agents, Aldrete was granted immunity from prosecution for attempting to smuggle marijuana into the United States on the day he was shot in the buttocks.

A letter circulated last week by U.S. Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, and signed by 24 lawmakers requests that the Justice Department refrain from opposing a motion filed in Cardone's court to allow the former agents to remain free on bond pending the appeal.

Poe spoke Wednesday on the House floor, where he said the agents "were doing their job" when they came into contact with a drug dealer.