Posted on 09/08/2006 10:27:53 AM PDT by radar101
Members of Congress petitioning the president to pardon two U.S. Border Patrol agents convicted of assaulting an illegal alien who was trying to smuggle drugs into the U.S. are now calling for an investigation of the U.S. attorney who prosecuted the agents.
"These were good agents doing their job," said Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.). "There is something that stinks to high heaven."
On Feb. 17, 2005, U.S. Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean were on duty when they encountered Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila in a van carrying 743 pounds of marijuana. When the agents tried to stop Aldrete-Davila, he fled. Unable to shake the pursuing agents, he abandoned his van and continued running toward Mexico.
The agents' version of what happened next contradicts Aldrete-Davila's testimony. The one thing all agree on is that, while fleeing on foot, the illegal alien and drug smuggler was shot. Aldrete-Davila was treated at a hospital in El Paso and then returned to Mexico.
After learning of the shooting, U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton sought out Aldrete-Davila in Mexico and offered him immunity from prosecution if he would return to the United States to testify against Ramos and Compean.
The initial immunity offer covered Aldrete-Davila's illegal entry into the U.S., the drug smuggling and his unlawful flight from the agents to avoid arrest. Sutton expanded the immunity to include a subsequent drug offense, when Aldrete-Davila tried to smuggle another 1,000 pounds of marijuana into the United States.
"The Justice Department says they don't have the resources to secure our borders, but somehow they found the resources to send agents to Mexico to find Aldrete-Davila and prosecute these agents," Tancredo said.
Rep. Red Poe (R-Texas) said the Justice Department is "on the wrong side" of this case.
"It appears as though they are working for the government of Mexico instead of the government of the United States," Poe said. "Instead of prosecuting [the agents], they should be giving them a medal."
Sentencing hearings for the agents have been postponed twice and are now scheduled for Oct. 18. They each face from five to 20 years in prison.
"It will absolutely be a sin, it will be a crime if these agents go to jail," said Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.).
Jones has discussed the case with Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez and the White House. He told Cybercast News Service that "Something is not right. Washington, D.C. needs to look into that office's activities."
"We need to start asking questions and go down to Texas and find out if there is a problem," he added, noting that there is a history of Sutton pursuing cases against law enforcement officials. "If the American people rally behind these two agents, then we can certainly look into the actions of the federal office down in Texas."
Sutton's office did not return phone calls requesting comment for this article.
They broke the law. Deal with it...or pay into their "defense fund".
You give Conservatives a bad name.
See post 13. Several crimes are alleged.
So one deserves a prison term and the other a free pass.....even though he had broke fed'l by entering illegaly smuggling dope and evading arrest?.....is this how 'justice" is going to be handled in our new banana republic called the N.American Union?
You need a reality check. Read post #80
You want me to trust the word of a guy that covered up his crime? Nice reality.
So have I. The agents' behavior demonstrated mens rea, and all their self-serving story-telling cannot alter what they did.
There are many links where you can educate yourself about it, and here's a thought for you to ponder. Do you really think that so many congressmen would go out on a limb to defend these men if they weren't fully informed?
Yes. We see Congressmen do that all the time, usually to pander to their base.
I suggest you read the border patrol agent's detailed account.
I did. Amazing how the gun just happened to disappear, and how he just happened to shoot the guy in the a$$ although he had supposedly just turned to face him . . .
Cue spooky music!
Paging Nurse Ratchet, paging Nurse Ratchet, thorazine needed state!
You gotta be Dane using a second screen name.
Well I guess U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton is on the payroll of at least one Mexican drug lord. It's amazing what the war on drugs has produced. Mexican drug runners have enough money to buy literally anyone.
I guess we can forget about border Patrol agents catching anyone now. It's already policy for them not to chase anyone. Now they know that if they do they will go to prison.
BTW, you seem to also be on the side of the drug runners. Are you a drug lord or have you been bought too?
If I was a border patrol agent I would be hanging out at the donut shop instead of patroling after this verdict.
Ridiculous. They covered up their crime.
BTW, you seem to also be on the side of the drug runners. Are you a drug lord or have you been bought too?
I'll pass on that lame comment.
If you were a border patrol agent, you would falsify official records and destroy evidence until the law caught up with such activities?
Thank God you're not a cop.
Obviously, you chose to ignore Ramos'account: "At some point during the time where I'm crossing the canal, I hear shots being fired," Ramos said. "Later, I see Compean on the ground, but I keep running after the smuggler."
Through the thick dust, Ramos watched as Aldrete-Davila turned toward him, pointing what appeared to be a gun.
"I shot," he said. "But I didn't think he was hit, because he kept running into the brush and then disappeared into it. Later, we all watched as he jumped into a van waiting for him. He seemed fine. It didn't look like he had been hit at all."
Seven other agents were on the scene by that time. Compean had already picked up his shell casings. Ramos did not, though he failed to report the shooting.
"The supervisors knew that shots were fired," Ramos said. "Since nobody was injured or hurt, we didn't file the report. That's the only thing I would've done different."
You can't prove the smuggler didn't have a gun. But you go right ahead and be a hard @ss. I certainly take these two border patrol officer's word over a drug smuggler's, (who can't prove his story is true) and give them 20 years.... Yea, right!
I saw a bit of her segment on O'Reilly and was very impressed. God bless her for helping these two officers and calling attention to their disgraceful plight.
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