Arrest prompts call for release of Ramos, Compean
Congressmen want probe of prosecutor after smuggler indicted for '2nd load'
Posted: November 16, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
Two congressmen are calling for the immediate release of imprisoned Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean and a complete investigation of their prosecutor after the arrest last night of the drug smuggler at the center of the case.
Reps. Ted Poe, R-Texas, and Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., say that with the arrest of Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila, Congress and the attorney general should launch a full-scale review of U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton's prosecution of the border agents.
Sutton, said Rohrabacher in a statement, "is now confirming what members of Congress and the public already figured out about Osvaldo Davila. He's a rotten habitual drug smuggler who should have been the target of Sutton's prosecution, instead of Border Patrol agents Ramos and Compean."
As WND reported, Aldrete-Davila was arrested yesterday at the El Paso border crossing on charges he smuggled a second 750-pound load of marijuana into the U.S. after he was given immunity by U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton.
It was the first smuggling attempt by Aldrete-Davila, in February 2005, that led to the 11- and 12-year prison sentences of Ramos and Compean. The two agents were convicted by a jury of violating federal gun laws and covering up the shooting of the smuggler as he fled back to Mexico after driving across the border with 742 pounds of marijuana. Sutton's office gave Aldrete-Davila immunity to serve as the government's star witness and testify against the border agents
Poe agreed with Rohrabacher, suggesting a special prosecutor might be needed to review the entire case.
"Sutton's office always claimed that Davila was just a mule bringing one load of drugs across to the United States, to get some money to help his sick mother in Mexico," Poe noted to WND. "The prosecutors presented this scenario to the jury in the Ramos and Compean trial. We now know that this is not true. Davila is a professional drug smuggler."
At the time of the trial, Poe pointed out, "the jury should have known, as did the U.S. Attorney's office, that while Davila had been given immunity and was running loose waiting to testify, he brought in a second load of drugs to the United States."
A statement by Sutton published on the Department of Justice website confirms Aldrete-Davila was arrested yesterday by agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Department of Homeland Security at the Ysleta Port of Entry in El Paso, Texas. A sealed indictment charged him with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana and with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute in September and October 2005.
Both dates are prior to the Ramos and Compean trial.
The October 2005 date coincides with previous reports that Aldrete-Davila's attempted a second load Oct. 23, 2005, while under immunity from Sutton's office and possessed a border pass card issued by the Department of Homeland Security.
The indictment's mention of a September date suggests Davila was involved in multiple drug smuggling incidents after the Feb. 17, 2005, event with Ramos and Compean and before the trial began Oct. 12, 2006.
Commenting on the statement published by Sutton today, Rohrabacher said: "Sutton has not only confirmed Davila's infamous October drug run but has now revealed evidence of several other smuggling incidents all of which took place while drug smuggler Davila was under full protection of the U.S. government."
Poe also believes Sutton's office withheld information from the jury to protect his case against the Border Patrol agents.
"The U.S. attorney relentlessly kept from the jury this information about Davila's subsequent drug events," Poe emphasized, "even convincing the judge at the Ramos and Compean trial to seal the information, because the information would hurt Davila's credibility as a witness."
Poe said the "whole case was on this golden-star drug dealer who was a deal by the U.S. attorney's office."
"Given my background and experience as a prosecutor and judge, my conclusion is that when prosecutors make deals with criminals they usually get the testimony they want," he said.
"In this case Davila told the jury he didn't have a weapon," Poe continued. "That was one of the cruxes of the case, because Ramos and Compean believed Davila had a weapon. The jury should have known that Davila is not believable, because he is a drug smuggler."
The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans is scheduled to hear the appeal in the Ramos and Compean case Dec. 3.
Rohrabacher commented on the timing of Davila's arrest.
"If Mr. Sutton thinks he's going to escape culpability for this miscarriage of justice by conveniently arresting the drug dealer two and a half weeks before the Ramos and Compean appeal is heard, he is sadly mistaken," the congressman said.
"Mr. Sutton turned a deaf ear to pleas from the Ramos and Compean families," he continued. "Instead, he only heard lies of the drug smuggler portraying him as an innocent man who had given into the temptation of drug smuggling only once, in order to buy medicine for his mother."
Rohrabacher insisted the bottom line is Sutton "believed it was more important to protect the civil rights of an admitted illegal alien drug smuggler than to side with the law enforcement heroes who attempted to stop him."
The California Republican said that while Sutton "was rolling out the red carpet for a drug smuggler, Davila was rolling millions of dollars worth of drugs back and forth across the border with free passes, courtesy of the U.S. government."
Rohrabacher said it's "clear that Border Patrol Agents Ramos and Compean have been collateral damage in Johnny Sutton's personal crusade to protect President Bush's failed border policy with Mexico."
"If this new information isn't grounds for a full scale review by the new Attorney General and Senate Judiciary Committee, I don't know what is," Rohrabacher concluded.
Poe agreed, saying Congress "should review the entire file on Davila" from the U.S. attorney's office, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Department of Homeland Security.
"Maybe even a special prosecutor needs to come in and review the whole situation," he said.
"We can't forget that a year ago members of Congress met with Department of Homeland Security and DHS told us things that just weren't true," Poe recalled. "We still want to know what's going to happen to those people in the DHS office of inspector general that misled Congress a year ago on the facts of this case and the background of Davila. Some of the allegations DHS made in that meeting about Ramos and Compean that turned out not to be correct."
Poe was referring to claims by members of DHS Inspector General Richard L. Skinner's office that it had documentary evidence Ramos and Compean confessed to knowingly shooting at an unarmed suspect and said they "wanted to shoot a Mexican" that day.
"Sutton chose the wrong side of the border war," Poe asserted. "Now Ramos and Compean are in jail based on what we now know is the testimony of a professional drug smuggler."
Ramos and Compean should be released, Poe insisted, saying they "have done enough time in solitary confinement on this case already and the rest of their sentence should be commuted."
"The truth finally comes out," he said. "Davila was a drug smuggler, and he always has been a drug smuggler. Even the U.S. attorney's office can't hide that fact anymore."
Poe said that if the case reversed because of several legal issues, the U.S. attorney's office "won't have a case to retry because their star golden witness will be serving time in a federal penitentiary where he should have been some time ago."
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- On his final full day in office, President Bush issued commutations for two former border patrol agents convicted in 2006 of shooting an undocumented immigrant who was smuggling drugs at the time.
The prison sentences of Ignacio Ramos and Joe Compean will now end March 20.
Ramos had received an 11-year prison sentence; Compean had received a 12-year sentence.
"The president has reviewed the circumstances of this case as a whole and the conditions of confinement and believes the sentences they received are too harsh and that they, and their families, have suffered enough for their crimes," a senior administration official said.
"Commuting their sentences does not diminish the seriousness of their crimes. Ramos and Compean are convicted felons who violated their oaths to uphold the law and have been severely punished," the official stated.
"This commutation gives them an opportunity to return to their families and communities, but both men will have to carry the burden of being convicted felons and the shame of violating their oaths for the rest of their lives."
The official noted that both Democratic and Republican members of Congress have supported a commutation, including President-elect Barack Obama's incoming White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, and Texas GOP Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn.
Ironically this is one of the issues that I think FRaC and I always agreed on...I have no problem with a convicted drug dealer getting shot in the bum, but I did and still do have a problem with the fact that the two agents were thrown in jail for over 10 years, especially considering the shady prosecutor. Bush's comments on the commutation annoyed me, in fact ...saying that they would have to live with their "shame". What a crock.
the real issue was not that they shot an unarmed drug dealer. it was that they used their position within law enforcement to try and cover up their role in the shooting.
It is hypocritical that the 'law-abiding' conservatives want these two free. Let's be clear: what they did was illegal. Even scumbag drug smugglers desrve due process not vigilante justice.
But at this point anything to shut them (the conservatives) up over this silly issue.
With the ruthlessness and violence of Mexican drug gangs south of the border I'm not exactly shedding any tears when border partrol agents kill them while trying to cross the border. It sends a message that we will not tolerate their presence in our country...a message I support. Those people aren't coming here to make a better life for themselves. They are here to spread violence above all else. Big difference from the guys standing next to Home Depot. Still, we cannot stand guard 24/7 along the whole border so we should be looking at the cause, i.e. why is marijuana illegal? Why not regulate it like alcohol and tobacco? Same goes for hard drugs. But that's another discussion for another day.
FLM it was WonderK who asked FRaC about his name change. I like "FRaC", personally.
Also, I'm pretty much OK with this commute, for reasons aquapura listed, and having sat on a jury for two parole officers who were in a somewhat similar situation. They should NOT have tried to cover up what happened, that's totally wrong, but the punishment they've served already seems enough.
Free Ramos and Compean...
Arrest prompts call for release of Ramos, Compean
Congressmen want probe of prosecutor after smuggler indicted for '2nd load'
Posted: November 16, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Jerome R. Corsi
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
Two congressmen are calling for the immediate release of imprisoned Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean and a complete investigation of their prosecutor after the arrest last night of the drug smuggler at the center of the case.
Reps. Ted Poe, R-Texas, and Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., say that with the arrest of Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila, Congress and the attorney general should launch a full-scale review of U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton's prosecution of the border agents.
Sutton, said Rohrabacher in a statement, "is now confirming what members of Congress and the public already figured out about Osvaldo Davila. He's a rotten habitual drug smuggler who should have been the target of Sutton's prosecution, instead of Border Patrol agents Ramos and Compean."
As WND reported, Aldrete-Davila was arrested yesterday at the El Paso border crossing on charges he smuggled a second 750-pound load of marijuana into the U.S. after he was given immunity by U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton.
It was the first smuggling attempt by Aldrete-Davila, in February 2005, that led to the 11- and 12-year prison sentences of Ramos and Compean. The two agents were convicted by a jury of violating federal gun laws and covering up the shooting of the smuggler as he fled back to Mexico after driving across the border with 742 pounds of marijuana. Sutton's office gave Aldrete-Davila immunity to serve as the government's star witness and testify against the border agents
Poe agreed with Rohrabacher, suggesting a special prosecutor might be needed to review the entire case.
"Sutton's office always claimed that Davila was just a mule bringing one load of drugs across to the United States, to get some money to help his sick mother in Mexico," Poe noted to WND. "The prosecutors presented this scenario to the jury in the Ramos and Compean trial. We now know that this is not true. Davila is a professional drug smuggler."
At the time of the trial, Poe pointed out, "the jury should have known, as did the U.S. Attorney's office, that while Davila had been given immunity and was running loose waiting to testify, he brought in a second load of drugs to the United States."
A statement by Sutton published on the Department of Justice website confirms Aldrete-Davila was arrested yesterday by agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Department of Homeland Security at the Ysleta Port of Entry in El Paso, Texas. A sealed indictment charged him with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana and with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute in September and October 2005.
Both dates are prior to the Ramos and Compean trial.
The October 2005 date coincides with previous reports that Aldrete-Davila's attempted a second load Oct. 23, 2005, while under immunity from Sutton's office and possessed a border pass card issued by the Department of Homeland Security.
The indictment's mention of a September date suggests Davila was involved in multiple drug smuggling incidents after the Feb. 17, 2005, event with Ramos and Compean and before the trial began Oct. 12, 2006.
Commenting on the statement published by Sutton today, Rohrabacher said: "Sutton has not only confirmed Davila's infamous October drug run but has now revealed evidence of several other smuggling incidents all of which took place while drug smuggler Davila was under full protection of the U.S. government."
Poe also believes Sutton's office withheld information from the jury to protect his case against the Border Patrol agents.
"The U.S. attorney relentlessly kept from the jury this information about Davila's subsequent drug events," Poe emphasized, "even convincing the judge at the Ramos and Compean trial to seal the information, because the information would hurt Davila's credibility as a witness."
Poe said the "whole case was on this golden-star drug dealer who was a deal by the U.S. attorney's office."
"Given my background and experience as a prosecutor and judge, my conclusion is that when prosecutors make deals with criminals they usually get the testimony they want," he said.
"In this case Davila told the jury he didn't have a weapon," Poe continued. "That was one of the cruxes of the case, because Ramos and Compean believed Davila had a weapon. The jury should have known that Davila is not believable, because he is a drug smuggler."
The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans is scheduled to hear the appeal in the Ramos and Compean case Dec. 3.
Rohrabacher commented on the timing of Davila's arrest.
"If Mr. Sutton thinks he's going to escape culpability for this miscarriage of justice by conveniently arresting the drug dealer two and a half weeks before the Ramos and Compean appeal is heard, he is sadly mistaken," the congressman said.
"Mr. Sutton turned a deaf ear to pleas from the Ramos and Compean families," he continued. "Instead, he only heard lies of the drug smuggler portraying him as an innocent man who had given into the temptation of drug smuggling only once, in order to buy medicine for his mother."
Rohrabacher insisted the bottom line is Sutton "believed it was more important to protect the civil rights of an admitted illegal alien drug smuggler than to side with the law enforcement heroes who attempted to stop him."
The California Republican said that while Sutton "was rolling out the red carpet for a drug smuggler, Davila was rolling millions of dollars worth of drugs back and forth across the border with free passes, courtesy of the U.S. government."
Rohrabacher said it's "clear that Border Patrol Agents Ramos and Compean have been collateral damage in Johnny Sutton's personal crusade to protect President Bush's failed border policy with Mexico."
"If this new information isn't grounds for a full scale review by the new Attorney General and Senate Judiciary Committee, I don't know what is," Rohrabacher concluded.
Poe agreed, saying Congress "should review the entire file on Davila" from the U.S. attorney's office, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Department of Homeland Security.
"Maybe even a special prosecutor needs to come in and review the whole situation," he said.
"We can't forget that a year ago members of Congress met with Department of Homeland Security and DHS told us things that just weren't true," Poe recalled. "We still want to know what's going to happen to those people in the DHS office of inspector general that misled Congress a year ago on the facts of this case and the background of Davila. Some of the allegations DHS made in that meeting about Ramos and Compean that turned out not to be correct."
Poe was referring to claims by members of DHS Inspector General Richard L. Skinner's office that it had documentary evidence Ramos and Compean confessed to knowingly shooting at an unarmed suspect and said they "wanted to shoot a Mexican" that day.
"Sutton chose the wrong side of the border war," Poe asserted. "Now Ramos and Compean are in jail based on what we now know is the testimony of a professional drug smuggler."
Ramos and Compean should be released, Poe insisted, saying they "have done enough time in solitary confinement on this case already and the rest of their sentence should be commuted."
"The truth finally comes out," he said. "Davila was a drug smuggler, and he always has been a drug smuggler. Even the U.S. attorney's office can't hide that fact anymore."
Poe said that if the case reversed because of several legal issues, the U.S. attorney's office "won't have a case to retry because their star golden witness will be serving time in a federal penitentiary where he should have been some time ago."
will bush pardon them?
or at least pull a scooter and commute their sentence?
no way - the prosecutor (johnny sutton) is a loyal bushy and bush's loyalty is to mexico
disgusting
All for a couple of loads of Garbage Mexican Weed.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- On his final full day in office, President Bush issued commutations for two former border patrol agents convicted in 2006 of shooting an undocumented immigrant who was smuggling drugs at the time.
The prison sentences of Ignacio Ramos and Joe Compean will now end March 20.
Ramos had received an 11-year prison sentence; Compean had received a 12-year sentence.
"The president has reviewed the circumstances of this case as a whole and the conditions of confinement and believes the sentences they received are too harsh and that they, and their families, have suffered enough for their crimes," a senior administration official said.
"Commuting their sentences does not diminish the seriousness of their crimes. Ramos and Compean are convicted felons who violated their oaths to uphold the law and have been severely punished," the official stated.
"This commutation gives them an opportunity to return to their families and communities, but both men will have to carry the burden of being convicted felons and the shame of violating their oaths for the rest of their lives."
The official noted that both Democratic and Republican members of Congress have supported a commutation, including President-elect Barack Obama's incoming White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, and Texas GOP Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn.
I just saw this, and I immediately thought of you, FRaC.
So, what will you change your name to?
i shortened it to FRaC and will leave it like that 'til they are released march 20th ..
at least they weren't pardoned
Ironically this is one of the issues that I think FRaC and I always agreed on...I have no problem with a convicted drug dealer getting shot in the bum, but I did and still do have a problem with the fact that the two agents were thrown in jail for over 10 years, especially considering the shady prosecutor. Bush's comments on the commutation annoyed me, in fact ...saying that they would have to live with their "shame". What a crock.
So they shot this guy in the ass while he was unarmed and running away?
That's classy!!!!
And really stupid!
the real issue was not that they shot an unarmed drug dealer. it was that they used their position within law enforcement to try and cover up their role in the shooting.
they tried to cover up the shooting to protect themselves. it's illegal for a reason.
It is hypocritical that the 'law-abiding' conservatives want these two free. Let's be clear: what they did was illegal. Even scumbag drug smugglers desrve due process not vigilante justice.
But at this point anything to shut them (the conservatives) up over this silly issue.
With the ruthlessness and violence of Mexican drug gangs south of the border I'm not exactly shedding any tears when border partrol agents kill them while trying to cross the border. It sends a message that we will not tolerate their presence in our country...a message I support. Those people aren't coming here to make a better life for themselves. They are here to spread violence above all else. Big difference from the guys standing next to Home Depot. Still, we cannot stand guard 24/7 along the whole border so we should be looking at the cause, i.e. why is marijuana illegal? Why not regulate it like alcohol and tobacco? Same goes for hard drugs. But that's another discussion for another day.
I heard about this on the radio yesterday, and like LB, immediately thought of you FRaC. I can't wait to see what your new name will be March 21.
thanks WK for understanding; it always gives me hope that when a reasonable person hears the facts about this case they come to a similar conclusion.
many democrats supported a commutation or pardon of these border agents, including Diane Feinstein and President Obama's chief-of-staff Rahm Emanuel.
FLM it was WonderK who asked FRaC about his name change. I like "FRaC", personally.
Also, I'm pretty much OK with this commute, for reasons aquapura listed, and having sat on a jury for two parole officers who were in a somewhat similar situation. They should NOT have tried to cover up what happened, that's totally wrong, but the punishment they've served already seems enough.
when the violence really starts to spill over into el paso we will do a gaza on juarez. thats a fact jack.
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