Agents to report to prison today

Judge rules they must serve while court considers appeals
By Sara A. Carter, Staff Writer
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Article Launched:01/17/2007 12:00:00 AM PST

Two U.S. Border Patrol agents accused of shooting a Mexican drug smuggler will have to sit in prison as they appeal their case to the 5th Circuit Court in New Orleans.

Late Tuesday afternoon, Judge Kathleen Cardone, of El Paso, Texas, denied Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean's motion to stay out on bond while they appeal their case.

Cardone's response stated that both agents must surrender to the United States Marshal by noon (PST) today.

"Because the defendant has been convicted of a crime of violence, he is eligible for release pending appeal only for `exceptional reasons'," Cardone's response to the motion read. "The court finds that no `exceptional reasons' exist in this case."

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 said they believed the smuggler was carrying a weapon during a foot chase along the Texas-Mexico border on Feb. 17, 2005.

Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila, the smuggler, was given immunity by the U.S. government in exchange for testifying against the agents. He also received medical treatment at a U.S. Army hospital after the shooting. He is suing the Border Patrol for $5 million.

The smuggler crosses illegally, breaking the law, is smuggling drugs into the US, breaking the law, is given immunity to testify against the officers who shot him so he doesn't go to jail for either entering the country illegally or smuggling drugs and is suing for $5 million. Isn't he still in the states illegally, violating the law? With justice like this we might as well give up trying to enforce the law, protect our sovereignty or curtail the drug trafficking. -mm

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Lawmakers, Advocacy Groups Launch Last-Ditch Effort to Save Two Border Patrol Agents From Jail

Wednesday, January 17, 2007
By Liza Porteus

Two Texas Border Patrol agents who shot a Mexican drug runner in the backside on the U.S. side of the border are hoping a last-ditch pardon from President Bush will save them from serving more than a decade in prison.

Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean are scheduled to turn themselves in to authorities Wednesday to begin serving 11 and 12 years, respectively, for the February 2005 non-fatal shooting.

Several groups, including Friends of the Border Patrol, The Minutemen and Grassfire.org, have been trying through petitions to keep the agents out of prison — through either a motion to U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone to allow them to remain free on bond during an appeal or through a presidential pardon from Bush. About a dozen rallies took place across the country in support of the agents last week.