Ex-agents' pleas to press yielded many supporters

By Louie Gilot / El Paso Times
El Paso Times
Article Launched:01/29/2007 12:00:00 AM MST

Lawyers routinely advise their clients not to talk to the press, lest they say something that could be used against them.

The lawyers for two former El Paso Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean did just that. But their clients, who were convicted of violating the civil rights of a drug smuggler they shot in the buttocks in 2005 near Fabens as the man was fleeing to Mexico and were also found guilty of tampering with evidence for not reporting the shooting, did not heed their advice.

The agents and their family members spoke to the press, did live interviews with cable networks and reached out to elected officials. In turn, their supporters have used a network of conservative Web sites to promote their cause nationally and as high up as the office of President Bush. And yet, the agents were convicted and sentenced, and have started serving their time in prison.