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Former U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton has been hired to work in a consulting and law firm formed by former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft. Sutton, who resigned Sunday as chief of the San Antonio-based Western District of Texas, is one of four outgoing U.S. attorneys hired by Ashcroft. All served under the administration of former President George W. Bush. “Johnny is joining the Ashcroft law firm, as is John Ratcliffe, former U.S. attorney from Dallas,” said Mark Corallo, a spokesman for Ashcroft’s company. “They will be operating in Texas as Ashcroft Sutton Ratcliffe LLC.” Corallo said Sutton will remain in...

Outgoing U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton said Monday he still believes he made the right call in prosecuting two then-Border Patrol agents convicted of covering up their shooting of an unarmed drug smuggler in the back. In a wide-ranging interview since announcing last week that he is resigning April 19, Sutton also said he was voluntarily leaving the job he’s had for more than seven years — the top federal prosecutor of the San Antonio-based Western District of Texas. Sutton, who was nominated to the post by President George W. Bush, said he is leaving for a legal job in the...

The US Supreme Court will not hear the appeals of US Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean. The refusal lets stand the opinion of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirming the convictions and the sentences of the agents. Although this effectively ends the agents’ hopes to have their felony convictions overturned, they are now free men thanks to a last minute commutation of their 10-year sentences by President Bush. Had it not been for Bush’s action, the Supreme Court’s refusal to hear the case would likely have meant the agents would have served their full sentences. Nonetheless,...

Former U.S. Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, who were given long jail terms for shooting at a fleeing drug smuggler, today told Fox News Channel host Glenn Beck that they were sustained by prayers of the American people and their spirits were lifted by their letters. The two were interviewed on Beck's program in their first television interview allowed under the terms of their probation after President Bush commuted their sentences on his last day in office. They just were released from ankle bracelet restrictions and still face limits on with whom they can talk. One of...

Former U.S. Border Patrol agent Ignacio "Nacho" Ramos wakes up in the middle of the night expecting a guard to shine a flashlight in his face. Jose Alonso Compean, his colleague, still has nightmares that he's not really home. It has not been easy readjusting to life outside their one-man prison cells where they spent the last two years of their lives in segregation. Since the commutation of their sentences by President Bush on his last day in office, the former agents, who were charged with the non-fatal shooting of a Mexican national after he abandoned a load of marijuana...

Jose Compean and Ignacio Ramos were scheduled for Beck's show today. I missed it at 5 p.m. EST but it is now repeating at 2 a.m. EST. Which means it should be on any minute.

Listening to Ignacio Ramos A free man!

WASHINGTON – A judge has ordered the federal government to turn over documents related to the shooting of a fleeing drug smuggler or explain why it's withholding them. The shooting led to the imprisonment and presidential commutation of two U.S. Border Patrol agents. Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog group, filed Freedom of Information Act requests two years ago with the departments of State, Justice and Homeland Security for records relating to the drug smuggler, Osvaldo Aldrete Davila. The departments did not provide any records, so the group filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Washington. In response to the...

DALLAS – Attorneys say two former Border Patrol agents convicted of shooting a drug smuggler and covering it up have been released from prison. Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean each had their sentences of more than 10 years commuted earlier this year by former President George W. Bush. Their commutation becomes effective March 20, and both will serve out the remainder of their sentences in home confinement. The men were convicted in 2006 of shooting Osvaldo Aldrete Davila near El Paso and trying to conceal it. Ramos left a federal prison in Phoenix on Tuesday morning on furlough, according to...

Convicted former Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean were released from federal prison this morning and are en route to join their families in El Paso, Texas. Characterizing Ramos and Compean's incarceration as a "political prosecution," Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, called for a congressional investigation into alleged prosecutorial misconduct by El Paso U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton under the direction of Bush administration Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Poe also called for an investigation into the alleged role of the Mexican government in demanding that Ramos and Compean be prosecuted. "As soon as President Bush commuted Ramos and Compean's sentences,...

At 3 a.m. mountain time, former Border Patrol agent Jose Compean was released from the Elkton Federal Prison in Elkton, Ohio. Former agent Ignacio Ramos was released about five hours later from the Phoenix Federal Prison in Phoenix, Ariz. Ramos and Compean will officially be released from Federal Bureau of Prison custody on March 20th, but on Tuesday both were allowed to rejoin their families. They had been in prison since January 2007. Ramos and Compean were in prison for shooting drug smuggler Osvaldo Aldrete Davila and then trying to cover it up. On President Bush’s last day in office,...

Just heard that Ramos has been released from prison. There will be no media access until March 20, 2009.

Border Patrol agents Jose Compean and Ignacio Ramos could be eligible to leave federal prison within days – though their official release date is still set for March 20, a spokeswoman for the Federal Bureau of Prisons has confirmed. BOP spokeswoman Traci Billingsley told WND that inmates may serve their sentences in arranged living facilities or home confinement before they are given their full freedom. "On their release date, all Bureau of Prisons inmates are generally released from one of three places," she said. "They're either released from an institution, a residential reentry center (halfway house) or they're released from...

Ruben Navarrette Jr.: Border agents' release will not wipe away their crime By Ruben Navarrette Jr. Posted: 01/25/2009 12:00:00 AM PST I was glad to see that George W. Bush commuted the prison sentences of former Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean. And frankly, I was a bit surprised I was glad. I never had much sympathy for Ramos or Compean, disgraced law enforcement officers who were convicted of shooting a Mexican drug smuggler and then lying about it. From studying the facts, hearing the arguments of the agents' supporters, and interviewing U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton, whose...

Mexico slams Border Patrol clemency. Criticizes commutation for former Border Patrol agents Ramos and Compean. Plus, President Bush and Administration Corruption Exposed Part II 01.22.09 CNN Lou Dobbs Video: "Mexico Meddling" (Ramos-Compean, Bush Corruption Exposed Pt II) 01.14.09 CNN Lou Dobbs Video: President-Elect Barack Obama and Mexico's President Felipe Calderon met SEGMENT INTRO: New questions about Mexico's brazen meddling in the case against former border patrol agents Ramos and Compean who remain in prison tonight, we'll have special coverage of this continuing miscarriage of justice and the intervention of the Mexican government in the Bush administration's policy making. # And...

“Lou Dobbs Tonight: Transcript” Justice Delayed: (Because of Bush) Ramos & Compean could be in prison for 2 more months Outrageous President Bush, Administration, and Mexican government collusion and corruption against our border patrol agents January 21, 2009 # This was Lou Dobbs first broadcast this week. SEGMENT INTRO: Former Border Patrol agents Ramos and Compean, their sentences commuted, but they may be in prison for another two months. There is rising anger at the continued imprisonment of former Border Patrol agents Ramos and Compean two days after President Bush commuted their sentences. And there is outrage at the Mexican...

Two Texas border guards sentenced each to about a dozen years in prison have had their sentences commuted by former President George W. Bush in one of last official acts. But the campaign on their behalf is not yet over. In 2005 Border Patrol agents Jose Compean and Ignacio Ramos shot drug smuggler Osvaldo Aldrete Davila in the buttocks as he fled across the Rio Grande, away from an abandoned van load of marijuana, according to Associated Press reports. The two men, who did not report the shooting and tampered with evidence by picking up spent shell casings, were convicted...

On his last full day as president, George W. Bush commuted the prison sentences of Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean, two former Border Patrol agents who were sent to prison for crimes they committed related to the shooting of a Mexican drug smuggler. Upon being charged, these agents became convenient symbols, and far too many good people tried to justify their behavior through the prism of their own beliefs. Border Patrol officers saw them as fellow officers unfairly accused of tryin But Compean and Ramos are anything but heroes. They are not good cops unfairly accused...

On his way out of office, President Bush used his power of the pardon to commute the sentences of former U.S. Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, who had been sentenced to 11 years and 12 years respectively for shooting and wounding a fleeing drug smuggler in 2005 and then covering up the incident. It was the right move. Ramos and Compean supporters no doubt would have preferred it if Bush had pardoned the agents - which would have cleared their criminal records. In that Bush had stood by U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton's prosecution of the agents, as...

Glenn kicks offhis new show tonight with the first interview by Monica Ramos and Patty Compean (wives of jailed border agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean) since the jailed border patrol agents had their sentences commuted today by President Bush. Plus a revealing interview with Sarah Palin---don't miss the highly anticipated premiere tonight at 5p on FOX News Channel! Bold. Brash. Beck!

WASHINGTON – In his final acts of clemency, President George W. Bush on Monday commuted the prison sentences of two former U.S. Border Patrol agents whose convictions for shooting a Mexican drug dealer ignited fierce debate about illegal immigration. Bush's decision to commute the sentences of Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, who tried to cover up the shooting, was welcomed by both Republican and Democratic members of Congress. They had long argued that the agents were merely doing their jobs, defending the American border against criminals. They also maintained that the more than 10-year prison sentences the pair was given...

President Bush commuted the prison sentences of former Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean. ... The agents were convicted of shooting at a fleeing drug smuggler and under an enhanced sentence guideline were ordered to spend more than a decade in prison.. WND reported just days ago that the action was under consideration. That was when the Department of Justice had opened a file on their case, office of agency pardon attorney Ronald Rodgers said. Rodgers spoke directly about the case by telephone with Stephen Eichler, J.D., executive director of Jim Gilchrist's Minuteman Project Inc.. Eichler initially called...

Mr. Bush, please listen to your federal prosecutor who doggedly tracked down a convicted drug smuggler in Mexico to convict Border Agents Jose Compean and Ignacio Ramos for allegedly over-zealously shooting at the smuggler after a car chase and then a foot sprint back across the border. To many supporters of the Border Patrol, Prosecutor Sutton himself was guilty of overzealousness in pursuing a criminal conviction of these agents. But this is what Sutton says about the two agents rotting in prison after two years separation from wives, children, parents and life (with nearly a decade still to serve): I...

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, made a final plea this week to President George Bush to commute the sentences of jailed U.S. Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean. “Because of the excesses of the prosecution against them, they will continue to sit alone in those cells for another decade,” Cornyn wrote, according to a report in the WorldNetDaily. “That is unless President Bush commutes their unjust sentences. In his remaining days as president, I ask President Bush to show mercy and use his clemency power to give back Agents Ramos and Compean the next 10 years of their lives.”

The U.S. Department of Justice has been opened a file on imprisoned U.S. Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean and a commutation of their sentences is under review, the office of agency pardon attorney Ronald L. Rodgers confirmed to WND. Rodgers spoke directly about the case by telephone with Stephen J. Eichler, J.D., executive director of Jim Gilchrist's Minuteman Project Inc.. Sign WND's petition urging President Bush to free U.S. Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean. Eichler initially called the DOJ pardon attorney's office to discuss the prospect of a presidential pardon for Ramos and Compean....

Monica Ramos and Patty Compean still have hope. It is the slim hope that President Bush will, in his administration's final hours, commute the sentences of their husbands. Ignacio "Nacho" Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean, two former Border Patrol agents, were sentenced to 11 and 12 years in prison, respectively, in October 2006 in the nonfatal shooting of a now-convicted Mexican drug smuggler. They have been in federal prison since January 2007. The convictions of the two men led to an outcry across the nation, and nearly a half-million signatures were collected for a presidential pardon. The notoriety of the...

President Bush has extensively discussed his immigration reform policy in exit interviews and given a $60,000 bonus to a Border Patrol chief who has been criticized for not supporting Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean – but he refuses to talk about whether pardons could be in store for the imprisoned agents. In a Jan. 6 interview with John Gizzi, political editor of Human Events, Bush said he regrets that the comprehensive immigration bill he endorsed did not prevail. "Well, I'm sorry it didn't pass, because I felt strongly that the comprehensive approach to immigration reform was necessary for border enforcement,...

What many people may not realize is that all too often, leaders of agencies are actually non-elected politicians. Someone once said that if you put more than two people together, you wind up with a political system. In order to ascend the chain of command in any organization, often the person who winds up at the top of the pyramid is the person who has demonstrated the willingness to "go along to get along." Apparently the chief of the Border Patrol is such an individual. Virtually from his very first day in office, President George W. Bush made it clear...

The U.S. Border Patrol has reportedly apprehended nearly 6,000 illegal immigrants in Green Valley since October of 2007, down from nearly 8,000 in the previous fiscal year. “Green Valley is much better than it was a year ago,” said Mario Escalante, a Border Patrol spokesman who explained that the numbers reflect increased enforcement in the area. Still, many in the community think that number is alarmingly high, especially because it does not include surrounding cities such as Sahuarita, Amado or Tubac — only Green Valley. One of them is Kelly Walter, a Green Valley resident and staff member of the...

U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Lehigh Valley, today is sending a letter to President Bush, urging the outgoing president to pardon two former Border Patrol agents who are in prison for shooting a drug smuggler. Dent wrote that the two agents, Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean, "were acting in fulfillment of their duty and responsibility to protect our borders and enforce the law, and they have been unjustly punished for their actions." Though Dent's congressional district is hundreds of miles away from the Mexican border, the congressman has taken an interest in border-related issues because he sits on the House...

President George W. Bush today added a convicted methamphetamine dealer, a cocaine distributor and two marijuana suppliers to the list of drug operators he's pardoned while in office, bringing his total of drug suppliers who have been pardoned or had their sentences commuted to 36. He's also pardoned more than a dozen thieves, seven embezzlers, an arsonist, several mail thieves, a man who violated the Neutrality Act and eight Thanksgiving turkeys, but there's been no clemency for U.S. Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, who were convicted of shooting at a fleeing drug smuggler. Andy Ramirez, of Friends...

For over two and a half years, the unjust prosecution and imprisonment of U.S. Border Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean has weighed heavy on the hearts and minds of millions of Americans.

“Even if the Supreme Court reverses this injustice done to Ramos and Compean, they could expect to sit in jail for upwards of another two years — for a crime that was impossible for them to commit,” GOF officials concede. . . said Steve Elliott, president of Grassfire.org Alliance in a recent press release. “So we’re joining a move calling for a commutation of their sentences in an effort to have these men freed and returned to their families as soon as possible.”

"They were simply doing their job." That's what Rep. Tom Tancredo said about Border Patrol Agents Jose Compean and Ignacio Ramos, with regards to the non-fatal shooting incident that has landed them with more than a decade of prison time each. In early 2005 Compean and Ramos, in the course of their duties, came across a truck carrying a load of marijuana. Osvaldo Adrete Avila was shot in his sitter as he tried to flee the scene.

Drug smugglers opened fire on federal agents late Monday night near Douglas during a drug bust. Agents from the U.S. Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement spotted two large trucks, a Chevrolet Avalanche and a Ford F-150, using ramps to drive over an approximately 8-foot border fence about 10:30 p.m. some five miles west of Douglas on James Ranch Road, said Mike Scioli, Border Patrol Tucson Sector spokesman. As agents approached the trucks, the drug smugglers turned around and tried to flee back into Mexico. But, agents threw down tire spikes, stopping both trucks north of the international line....

“The fact that the president has neglected to free these men from their imprisonment while freeing drug dealers, embezzlers and other criminals is insulting to the American people. For the sake of justice, let’s hope this is not the last round of pardons and commutations.” - Congressman Dana Rohrabacher Apparently some in the Bush Administration believe drug dealers, tax evaders and bank embezzlers are deserving of pardons...... but former Border Patrol Agents Jose Compean and Ignacio Ramos - serving a combined 23 years for what Congressman Tom Tancredo described as "doing their jobs" - don't even deserve the time of...

President Bush, who apparently uses the same pen for veto’s and pardons, has given out 14 and commuted the sentences of 2 others. All were pretty much low level scumbags who pretty much hurt no one but themselves, but what about the border agents? Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., noted that the list also did not include former Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, who were convicted of shooting a drug smuggler and trying to cover it up. Ramos and Compean are each serving sentences of more than 10 years for shooting Osvaldo Aldrete Davila in the buttocks while...

Black Leader Condemns Bush for Not Pardoning or Commuting Sentences of Jailed Border Agents During Pre-Thanksgiving Round of Executive ClemencyWashington, D.C. - Project 21 Chairman Mychal Massie is condemning President Bush’s inaction regarding incarcerated Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean and is reiterating his call for a pardon or commutation of the agents' sentences before the President leaves office in January. Massie’s call comes as the White House has announced that President George W. Bush granted pre-Thanksgiving pardons to individuals involved in the distribution of drugs and bank embezzlement and commuted the sentences of two men given...

WASHINGTON – President George W. Bush has granted pardons to 14 individuals and commuted the prison sentences of two others convicted of misdeeds ranging from drug offenses to tax evasion, from wildlife violations to bank embezzlement, The Associated Press learned Monday. The new round of White House pardons are Bush's first since March and come less than two months before he will end his presidency. The crimes committed by those on the list also include offenses involving hazardous waste, food stamps, and the theft of government property. Bush has been stingy during his time in office about handing out such...

A Grammy Award-winning rapper and music producer originally sentenced to 14 years in prison for smuggling cocaine is one of 16 people receiving pardons or reduced sentences from President Bush. John Edward Forte of North Brunswick, N.J., a graduate of the elite Phillips Exeter Academy prep school who later became a producer for the rap group The Fugees and released two albums on his own, was caught in 2000 at Newark International Airport with two briefcases filled with $1.4 million worth of liquid cocaine, according to court documents. Forte, 33, a first-time offender, was convicted of possessing the 31 pounds...

10. Land use -- Review executive orders concerning the Antiquities Act designations of lands by the government. Under Bill Clinton, millions of acres of lands were locked up by executive fiat and, because these actions were not established by law, they can be undone by executive action of a subsequent President. 9. Oil drilling -- Continue to push the Outer Continental Shelf planning process so that newly opened OCS acreage can be leased for future oil drilling. 8. Oil shale leasing -- Issue the final leasing regulations for oil shale leasing in the Western United States. Without these, the U.S....

- - Tonight an outrageous move from the White House, President Bush pardoning 14 people, including drug dealers. But not former border patrol agents Ramos and Compean. DOBBS: President Bush today granted 14 pardons and he commuted two prison sentences. Five of those given clemency were convicted of serious drug charges. In what is an outrageous miscarriage of justice, former border patrols Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean serving lengthy prison sentences were not included on the president's list. They are serving those sentences for shooting and wounding an illegal alien drug dealer who they were pursuing and who was given...

(CNSNews.com) – In the waning days of the Bush administration, the Department of Justice (DOJ) is mulling whether to recommend a commutation for the two former Border Patrol agents jailed for more than a decade each for shooting a Mexican drug smuggler in the buttocks. The case is now before the DOJ’s Pardon Attorney Donald Rodgers. The Office of Pardon Attorney works in consultation with the attorney general’s office to assist the president, who has sole power of clemency in federal cases under the Constitution. Ultimately, it is the president’s call regardless of what the Office of Pardon Attorney recommends....

It's both baffling and disappointing that President Bush has not already pardoned two U.S. Border Patrol agents imprisoned since 2007 for wounding a fleeing illegal alien who entered the United States in a van with 743 pounds of marijuana. Time is running out for Mr. Bush to act to correct what one congressman calls "the worst miscarriage of justice that I have witnessed in the 30 years I've been in Washington."

Friends Of The Border Patrol Report offers Change #1 to newly elected administration and Congress Chino, CA – Friends of the Border Patrol has released a report uncovering corruption and security compromises within the government titled “Unjustifiable and Impeachable: The FOBP Report on DHS, DOJ, and the Courts. Andy Ramirez has authored this report with a section featuring 50 Exhibits documenting compromises, corruption and unconscionable incidents that go back 15 years in some cases. The report contains two volumes, with Volume I authored by Andy Ramirez, and Volume II written by Attorney John Cavicchi, which primarily addresses the court system....

Lou Dobbs Tonight Transcript - Kitty Pilgrim, Guest Anchor 11th Hour Pardons - Ramos & Compean Aired Tuesday, November 18, 2008 Are former border patrol agents Ramos and Compean closer to a presidential pardon? We'll have a special report PILGRIM: President Bush has issued only 157 pardons and commuted six prison sentences during his time in office. And the president still has 63 days left to consider remaining clemency requests and two of those requests are from Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean. In a gross miscarriage of justice the two former border patrol agents were convicted of shooting and wounding...

Washington, D.C. – In a letter today to President George W. Bush, Representative Walter B. Jones (R-NC) reiterated his call for the President to commute the sentences of imprisoned U.S. Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean to time served. The agents entered federal prison on January 17, 2007, to begin serving sentences of 11 and 12 years respectively for shooting and wounding an illegal alien drug smuggler who brought 743 pounds of marijuana across the U.S. border in 2005. “As you conclude the final months of your term as President of the United States, I am writing...