Posted on 08/21/2006 10:58:38 AM PDT by beaversmom
EL PASO, Texas - The union representing U.S. Border Patrol agents has set up a legal defense fund for two agents convicted earlier this year of wounding a suspected drug smuggler and then trying to cover up the shooting.
The National Border Patrol Council, the union that represents nearly all Border Patrol agents, launched the fund this week to help former agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean pay for an appeal and provide some money for their families. The men were suspended without pay after their 2005 arrests and fired after a federal jury convicted them in March.
Union chief T.J. Bonner, a Border Patrol agent, said the fund is a way for fellow agents and other friends of the Border Patrol to show their support for the agents who Bonner believes were wrongly prosecuted. The union contributed $10,000 in "seed money."
Compean and Ramos, who were both agents in the Fabens area, were accused of shooting admitted drug smuggler Osvaldo Aldrete Davila, a Mexican national, in the buttocks, and then trying to cover it up.
Ramos and Compean were convicted in March of assault with a deadly weapon, obstruction of justice, a civil rights violation and other felonies. They were both acquitted of assault with attempt to commit murder. They are to be sentenced later this year and could face more than 20 years in prison.
Bonner said he hopes authorities will also study how the original investigation was conducted.
Border Patrol officials first learned of the shooting after Davila's mother contacted the mother-in-law of an Arizona-based Border Patrol agent. The Border Patrol's Office of the Inspector General later launched an investigation.
Bonner said he has spoken with several members of Congress, including U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., who have said they would look into the case.
U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, a former Border Patrol sector chief from El Paso, said he Tuesday has not been contacted and will not take up the case.
"A jury found them guilty," Reyes said. "I will refer to (U.S. Attorney) Johnny Sutton."
Robert Boatright, a Border Patrol assistant chief patrol agent in El Paso, said Tuesday that the case is in the hands of a "judicial system that we work in on a daily basis."
"We have faith in the system," Boatright said. "We respect the appeals process and any other review process."
You can listen live here:
http://www.710knus.com/
ping
This drug smuggler was caught smuggling again during the trial and I think they let him go again to secure his testimony against the border patrol agents. He suing the government for $5 million dollars. WTHell is wrong with the idiots running this country!!!
Thanks for posting, I hope folks use the keywords for the 2 agents to get more info on this story.
Sentencing is set for the 23rd.
Convicted border agent tells his story ^
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1678755/posts
Sentencing is set for
August 22nd, not the 23rd, my mistake.
Thanks for that link. I hadn't heard of this case before today. It is truly unbelieveable. Why do we continue to slit our own throats in this country? What is the agenda for prosecuting our own border control people and letting the drug smuggler go?
ping
Mark Taylor mentioned that the border patrol agents and their families are getting death threats from the drug smugglers. One of the wives is expecting a baby any day now.
It is truly unbelieveable. Why do we continue to slit our own throats in this country? What is the agenda for prosecuting our own border control people and letting the drug smuggler go?
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Good questions. All things are local, no matter how much we are told to think global. ;-)
Drugs follow demand, many benefit on more than just cheap labor on the "hoof" ..
BUT we wouldn't want to turn this into an immigration thread, now would'we? There are many victims in this tale which is still unfolding before our eyes..
Here's the link again to listen live to Mark Taylor filling in for Dennis Prager. His guest is Andy Ramirez chairman of Friends of Border Patrol:
http://www.710knus.com/
Mark Taylor said Reyes, who is the U.S. congressman for these guys, refuses to help as indicated in the above article.
Mark Taylor said this case is getting very little attention. It appears fellow FReepers aren't really interested in it either. This kind of stuff is scary to me. What the heck are we going to become in this country?
I don't know if you're listening, one of the people prosecuting these guys attacked them by saying, "What are you doing going after one of your own?"--meaning a fellow Latino.
ping
What an outrage. They should never have been charged. I haven't yet read all the details of the case but were the jury and DA in pay of drug smugglers?
This calendar is keeping up with news and fundraisers for the agents.
www.anti-illegalimmigrationevents.com
The following link has good /great information from BP ground agents.
http://www.local2544.org/
Welcome. Local 2544 officers are all Border Patrol agents. We represent other Border Patrol agents and non-supervisory employees in the Tucson Sector of the U.S. Border Patrol, covering most of the state of Arizona. We are the largest local in the Border Patrol.
Chertoff Supports Amnesty - 08-19-06 It has become clear that our DHS "leader" is a big amnesty supporter. He likes to make speeches with Border Patrol agent props behind him. No Border Patrol agent worth his or her salt would volunteer to stand behind this guy during a photo op to make it appear that we agree with his political views. We wish Chertoff would stay out of Arizona. Using agents as forced backdrops while you make speeches to sell us out with amnesty is shameful Mr. Chertoff, even for a political appointee who is backing a President steering our immigration policies and this country right into the third-world gutter. Perhaps it would be helpful if we were to point out that rank-and-file agents are paid to arrest those people you want to provide amnesty for. As such, maybe you can explain to us why you are in favor of legalizing the very people we risk our lives to stop Mr. Chertoff. Call it whatever you want sir ("guest-worker" etc.), but you need to return to planet Earth and figure out what real Americans are demanding of their government. They want the laws enforced, they pay your wages, and your pro-amnesty hoo-rah is getting old.
This calendar is keeping up with news and fundraisers for the agents. Here is the link.
http://www.anti-illegalimmigrationevents.com
Thanks for the link, beaversmom. I'll donate what I can.
I took a copy of the first article I saw on this case to my Congressman's local office, about three weeks ago, the aid said he was going to request that the Congressman open a congressional inquiry into the matter. I don't know if he has, or will.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1682192/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1680219/posts
More info here
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