Former (Border Patrol)agents can seek pardon (GOOD NEWS!)

Inland Daily Bulletin ^ | 12/22/2006 | Sara A. Carter

[radar101]

Former Border Patrol Agent Jose Alonso Compean attends a press conference and rally on Thursday, December 21, 2006 in front of the Old Orange County Courthouse where supporters, led by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher requested the President pardon both Compean and fellow agent Ignacio Ramos' conviction for the non fatal shooting of a Mexican citizen smuggling drugs into the United States. Compean and Ramos are both facing more than 10 years in prison.

In the first official response of any kind to several congressional letters sent on behalf of two former Border Patrol agents, the U.S. Department of Justice Thursday recommended that the agents personally petition for a presidential pardon.

The Justice Department letter was one highlight of a midafternoon rally in Santa Ana for former agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean. At the rally, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Huntington Beach, demanded that President Bush review the agents' case and either pardon them or commute their sentences. "This is a definitive moment for President Bush's character," Rohrabacher said at the press conference. "We are not attacking the president. We are pleading with him to please give these people a holiday pardon."

Compean and Ramos were sentenced in October to 12 and 11 years, respectively, in federal prison for the non-fatal shooting of a Mexican drug smuggler. Both men believed the smuggler was carrying a weapon during a foot chase along the Texas-Mexico border in April 2005.

Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila, the smuggler, was given immunity and full medical care for the wound to his buttocks by the Texas U.S. Attorney's Office in exchange for testifying against the agents.

Aldrete-Davila, who lives in Mexico, is suing the U.S. Border Patrol for $5 million for civil rights violations.

Compean and Ramos were fired from the Border Patrol following their convictions last spring. Their case has garnered national attention since the Daily Bulletin first published the agents' story in August.

Grassfire.org, a conservative national issues advocacy organization, has collected more than 156,000 petition signatures nationwide seeking a presidential pardon for the agents.

Compean, his wife Patty, and their three children attended Thursday's rally. Compean's mother held her youngest grandchild, 3-month-old David, in her arms.

Anna Belle, 11, Compean's oldest child, stood by her mother and smiled as her father began to thank those who have supported the family.

"If the president could look into my husband's eyes, he would know that he is a good man and that he is innocent of what he has been accused of," Patty Compean told the Daily Bulletin.

White House officials have not commented on the case, though the Justice Department letter acknowledges receipt of Rohrabacher's Dec. 6 letter to the president, which was signed by 48 congressmen.

The Justice Department letter then outlines what steps the agents should follow to pursue a presidential pardon.

"As to the issue you raise of a presidential pardon, should Messrs. Ramos and Compean wish to petition for clemency, they may contact the Office of the Pardon Attorney at the Department of Justice for further information on eligibility and procedures," the note reads.

The letter is a watershed of sorts for the agents, who have had several different groups of congressmen send letters on their behalf to the president, with no response of any kind prior to Thursday.

Staff writer Sara A. Carter can be reached by e-mail at sara.carter@dailybulletin.com, or by phone at (909)483-8552.

[radar101]

Former U.S. Border Patrol agent Ignacio Ramos embraced his wife, Monica Ramos, on Tuesday, two days before he is set to be sentenced. Ramos could receive up to 15 years in prison for shooting a drug smuggler who was entering the United States illegally. (Mark Lambie / El Paso Times)

After the injustice perpetrated upon Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, who in their right mind would even consider pursuing a career as a United States border agent? Additionally, are there any current border agents familiar with this incredibly tragic story who will not pause to reflect, as they spy illegals entering the U.S. from Mexico, what performing their job might net them–serious jail time? I wouldn’t blame them. I will blame our president.

But this is what George Bush, and all those who agree with him, wants–open borders and free access to cheap labor. Because he is a short-sighted and unintelligent man, he desperately wishes to devalue American schools, shut down our emergency rooms, and generally spread the 3rd world throughout this country–this country that is doomed to die from the inside out as if we’re one giant rotten apple. The old adage states that “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” It also wasn’t destroyed in a day. It died under the overwhelming weight of immigrants it simply wasn’t able to adequately accommodate. It became rotten.

Bush has expressed his desire to grant amnesty to the already 20 million illegal aliens currently residing in the United States. If we’re truly at 20 million (everyone agrees no lower than 12 million), then the number of illegal aliens residing in this country is far more than “all of the Germans, Italians, Irish, and Jews who ever came to American in the 400 years of our history on this continent.“* In the same vein, according to research conducted by Time magazine, “…the number of illegal aliens flooding into the U.S. this year will total 3 million–enough to fill 22,000 Boeing 737-700 aircraft, or 60 flights every day for a year.”

Pushing aside ideas of MEChA and Aztlan, if you’re one who doesn’t believe we are being invaded then you’re a moron. If you’re too worried that you might step out of the boundaries of political correctness and be labeled a “racist” then you’re a coward. Both ways, you’re simply ignorant, and this country will cave in upon itself from the weight of the ever growing illegal population.

This is not an issue of racism unless certain unsavory groups or peoples make it that way. I don’t blame poor Mexicans their desire, their need to break our immigration laws and try to make better lives for themselves in the United States. I blame our impotent administration for failing to secure our borders. While the analogy may not be all that flattering, equating America to the Roman Empire, at least in this respect, is not far off the target. And like all once mighty empires, the United States will fall, but not from wars. We will fall because our government refuses to address the issue that is slowly killing us–illegal immigration.

It all starts at the border. Go ahead, refuse to secure it. Neuter our border agents and send them to jail for doing the right thing, and that will be the beginning of the end. Am I overreacting? Ignacio “Nacho” Ramos and Jose Compean, good hardworking family men and former border patrol agents, will be sentenced this Thursday, October 19th, to no less than 10 years in a maximum security prison for doing their jobs.
This is a travesty. It is a severe injustice. It fills me with shame that my government would allow this to happen. It fills me with a great sadness for these two men and their families who will be without husbands, fathers, and sons for potentially the rest of their lives. This must not be allowed.

Shame on George Bush. Shame on Michael Chertoff. Shame on Alberto Gonzales. Shame on Debra Kanof.

[FR_addict]

Thank you very much for the link. I am going to copy what it said about the jurors here.

"Sentencing looms for agents, jurors say they were misled

Agents’ lawyer seeks new trial in shooting case
By Louie Gilot / El Paso Times

Three members of the jury that convicted two former El Paso Border Patrol agents of shooting a drug smuggler in the buttocks last year said they were misled into finding them guilty, according to a motion filed late Tuesday, two days before the agents are to be sentenced.Mary Stillinger, the lawyer for one of the agents, Ignacio Ramos, thought the jurors’ statements should be grounds for setting the verdict aside and ordering a new trial for Ramos and fellow agent Jose Alonso Compean.

The men are scheduled to be sentenced Thursday and face a 10-year mandatory sentence.

It was not known Tuesday night whether U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone would consider the motion for a new trial before the sentencing. Officials of the U.S. attorney’s office said they had not reviewed the new motion and could not comment on it.The three jurors, identified in court documents as Robert Gourley, Claudia Torres and Edine Woods, said they voted not guilty almost to the end of two days of deliberations.

“I did not think the defendants were guilty of the assaults and civil rights violations,” Woods wrote in a sworn affidavit.Compean and Ramos were found guilty of assault with serious bodily injury, assault with a deadly weapon, discharge of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence, a civil-rights charge and obstruction of justice in the Feb. 17, 2005, shooting of Osvaldo Aldrete Davila near Fabens.

Stillinger said she saw some jurors crying after the guilty verdict and later got in touch with them.

Gourley, a Northeast special- education teacher, and Torres said in affidavits that the foreman of the jury told them that Judge Cardone would not accept a hung jury. And Woods said an affidavit that she heard the same statement but could not remember which juror said it.

“Essentially … they conceded their votes, believing that they did not have the option to stick to their guns and prevent a unanimous verdict,” Stillinger wrote in the motion.

Gourley said that he thought the foreman was relating something he heard directly from the judge, and when he found no mention on hung juries in the court’s printed instructions, “I had no reason to doubt the foreman,” he said in the affidavit.

After the trial, Gourley told reporters that he felt pressured by other jurors who wanted to resume their normal lives after more than two weeks of trial. He also said he thought 10 years in prison was a grossly inappropriate punishment for the agents.

“Had we had the option of a hung jury, I truly believe the outcome may have been different,” he said in the affidavit.

Flores said in her affidavit that she believed the foreman because, “he was very experienced in serving on juries. I felt like he knew something about the judge that we did not know. É I did not think that Mr. Ramos or Mr. Compean was guilty of the assaults and civil rights violations.”

The third juror, Woods, wrote in an affidavit, “I don’t remember exactly what it was that made me change my vote to guilty on these charges, but I know I was very influenced by my belief, based on the other juror’s statement, that we could not have a hung jury. I think I might not have changed my vote to guilty if I had known that was an option.”

[FR_addict]

PLEASE CALL THE WHITE HOUSE OR SEND EMAIL.

comments@whitehouse.gov

The White House line is very busy today.

George Bush has already given out 137 pardons during his Presidency. These men need to be pardoned before Christmas.

[varon]

the U.S. Department of Justice Thursday recommended that the agents personally petition for a presidential pardon.

They shouldn't have to petition (beg) for a pardon for a conviction that should never have taken place. Our illustrious leader should grant the pardon and thank the agents on behalf of a grateful nation for protecting our nation's sovereignty with their lives.

[WatchingInAmazement]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1757336/posts

Bush pardons 16, commutes sentence in drug case

If these agents had been caught smuggling drugs they might have a chance!

[FR_addict]

Thanks for providing this link to the Presidential pardons of drug smugglers. Since they gave immunity to the drug smuggler in this case, it does seem that you are right, a drug smuggler has a better chance of getting a pardon.

I am so disgusted with Homeland Security for going after these men in the first place by promising immunity to the drug smuggler.

I doubt very seriously a drug smuggler would not have a gun. What does Homeland Security think, he will smuggle drugs, but not a gun? Someone needs to explain to Homeland Security how dangerous drug smugglers are.

The drug smuggler's word held more weight than the two agents' word, even though they had to drag him back across the border and give him immunity to testify. Does anyone really think he would say anything differently than what Homeland Security wanted him to say?

Now he is suing the government for $5 million dollars. I wouldn't be surprised anymore if he got it. After all, the government already made him a victim during the Border agents trial.

[WatchingInAmazement]

Johnny Sutton, US Attorney responsible for this.

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/txw/us_attorney/index.html

Mr. Sutton also serves as the chairman of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee (AGAC) which plays a significant role in determining policies and programs of the Department and in carrying out the national goals set by the President and the Attorney General. The AGAC consists of 17 members appointed by the Attorney General and represents different judicial circuits, various-sized offices, and expertise. Mr. Sutton also serves on the Border and Immigration Law Enforcement Subcommittee of the AGAC.

US Attorney Johnny SuttonPrior to becoming United States Attorney, Mr. Sutton served as an Associate Deputy Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., and as a Policy Coordinator for the Bush-Cheney Transition Team assigned to the Department of Justice.

Mr. Sutton served as the Criminal Justice Policy Director for then-Governor George W. Bush from 1995-2000, advising the Governor on all criminal justice issues,* with specific oversight in the areas of criminal law, prison capacity and management, parole operations and legislative initiatives. Prior to his service in the Governor’s office, Mr. Sutton worked as a criminal trial prosecutor in the Harris County District Attorney’s Office (Houston, Texas) for eight years.
As a prosecutor, he was lead trial counsel in over sixty felony cases, including numerous capital murder, aggravated robbery, and sexual assault cases. He is fluent in Spanish, having appeared as a television commentator for the Spanish language network Univision during the Selena homicide trial.

[gubamyster]

ping

[FR_addict]

Let's keeped this bumped up today. I emailed the White House and sent information to some of the News Shows. I tried calling the White House but couldn't get through.

comments@whitehouse.gov

vice_president@whitehouse.gov

Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461

I don't want to see these men forgotten.

[getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL]

I didn't know until this morning that there is a grassfire petition being delivered to the White House. I'll try and find it.

[getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL]

http://www.grassfire.org/142/petition.asp?PID=12020368&NID=1

[WatchingInAmazement]

I don't want to see these men forgotten.

Good for you!

These agents don't have a chance in prison. 25 to 33% incarcerated are illegal aliens, many in gangs.

[getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL]

Great. I never even thought of that aspect.

[e_castillo]

Here's another take on this story.

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/txw/press_releases/2006/compeanramosfinal.pdf

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

"Radar, you left out a very important part of this whole story. The smuggler was granted immunity by the US attorney in order for him to testify against the agents. Before the trial he was arrested a second time smuggling a large amount of drugs into the country. He was granted immunity a second time by the same US attorney. Smells of collusion with the drug dealers, doesn't it?"

Just Dam*, How about an Ambassador marrying a Citizen of the country in which he is ambassador.

And not replaced as this looks like a conflict of interest!

[FR_addict]

Thanks!

Anyone here who has a ping list of activists on other threads might think about getting them to start calling today and sending them a link to this thread.

I think we need to call the talk shows on television and the radio, especially today.

These men deserve a Christmas pardon!

[ansel12]

I too think there is more to this story, but I can't find anything on it except the rah-rah stuff. Truth or Fiction mentions it a little in the link below.



http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/b/border-agents.htm

[joe fonebone]

Thank you. This is what I was looking for. It would appear that these two deserve to be in jail.

[WatchingInAmazement]

Thank you. This is what I was looking for. It would appear that these two deserve to be in jail.

Please share with us what you think is so condemning. Then see post #22. Jurors disagree.

Here is an interview on video of Compean. http://hecubus.wordpress.com/2006/10/19/interview-with-border-agent-jose-compean-on-cnn/

[ansel12]

It turns out we don't know the half of it. Look at this link that e_castillo posted, if we had known the truth about this case, this thread would not even had been posted. Someone needs to post the text from this PDF.


http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/txw/press_releases/2006/compeanramosfinal.pdf