Free Republic

U.S. Border Patrol Agents are Still in Prison! Call the White House and Tell President Bush to Pardon Ramos and Compean! On February 17, 2005, U.S. Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean were guarding the Mexican border near El Paso, TX when they intercepted a van carrying 743 pounds of marijuana. They attempted to prevent a Mexican drug-smuggler from crossing the border and illegally entering the United States. After the U.S. government intervened and granted immunity and a temporary visa to the illegal drug-smuggler in exchange for testimony against Ramos and Compean, the two border guards were convicted...

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-CA) responded to the sentencing of Osvaldo Aldrete Davila, the drug smuggler whose testimony led to the convictions of Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, by calling it a “perfect opportunity” for the President to pardon the agents or commute their sentences. Davila was sentenced today to two consecutive, 57 month terms in prison. “The sentencing of Osvaldo Aldrete Davila offers the President yet another opportunity to do what is right and either pardon or commute the sentences of Agents Ramos and Compean,” said Congressman Hunter. “These agents have spent almost...

If President Bush would simply pardon the unjustly imprisoned former Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, we could all rest much easier knowing that in the United States, a foreign drug smuggler's word does not prevail over the word of federal agents in the line of duty. This week, the Kentucky-based group, Christians Reviving America's Values, filed an ethics complaint with the Texas Bar Association to investigate U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton, whom the group argues willfully misled a jury to convict the agents. Here is a refresher on the case for those who need it: Messrs. Ramos and...

Don Swarthout, President of Christians Reviving America's Values (CRAVE) has filed an ethics complaint with the Texas Bar Association against Prosecutor Johnny Sutton. In this complaint Swarthout charges Sutton's office willfully misled the jury in order to convict Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean for simply doing their jobs. Swarthout has asked the Texas Bar Association to investigate Johnny Sutton for actions strikingly similar to Prosecutor Mike Nifong's mishandling of the Duke lacrosse rape case. The evidence suggests Johnny Sutton is just as guilty as Mike Nifong of unethical prosecutorial behavior. Swarthout said, "This whole case stinks to...

No Pardon Promise for Ex-Border Patrol Agents By Fred Lucas CNSNews.com Staff Writer July 19, 2007 (1st Add: Adds background.) (CNSNews.com) - President George W. Bush Thursday praised the federal prosecutor who was grilled two days earlier by a Senate panel for his role in the conviction of two U.S. Border Patrol agents for the shooting a drug dealer. Taking questions from members of the Nashville, Tenn., Chamber of Commerce after a speech, Bush declined to promise to pardon the two agents, as a growing number of lawmakers are urging. "I'm not going to make that kind of promise in...

Justice: The government admits that its drug-running star witness lied to investigators as the case against border agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean—imprisoned for protecting our border—falls apart on appeal.The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments this week in the appeal by U.S. Border Patrol agents Ramos and Compean in what many believe was a grave miscarriage of justice involving two agents who were incarcerated for doing their assigned job of protecting the American people against criminals and intruders.Judging by the questions from the panel of judges, it would seem they are not exactly enthralled with the case presented...

NEW ORLEANS — Federal prosecutors may have overreacted in their case against two Border Patrol agents who were sentenced to lengthy prison terms after they were convicting of shooting a fleeing drug suspect and hiding evidence of the incident, an appeals court judge said Monday. "It does seem to me that the government overreacted here," said Judge E. Grady Jolly, one of three judges of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals hearing the case of Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean. A federal jury in Texas convicted the agents of assault, obstruction of justice and civil rights violations in...

... & pardon these 2 Saturday, November 24, 2007 The degrading, draconian and disgraceful incarceration of former Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean indicates President George W. Bush, the self-anointed compassionate conservative, is capable of stone-cold stupidity. By doing their duty along the near-lawless border with Mexico, Messrs. Ramos and Compean have become tragic symbols of this nation's gross incompetence regarding enforcement of immigration law.

A Border Patrol activist group is accusing U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton of protecting the drug smuggler at the center of the Ramos-Compean case from facing perjury charges. Andy Ramirez, chairman of the Friends of the Border Patrol, wants a special prosecutor appointed to investigate Sutton and trial prosecutor Debra Kanof for subordination of perjury for allowing drug smuggler Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila to take the stand under "false pretenses." Aldrete-Davila was arrested last week at the Mexican border for alleged drug offenses committed while under immunity to testify as the star witness in the case. Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean are in...

If convicted of the marijuana-related charges, he faces up to 40 years in prison EL PASO — An admitted Mexican drug smuggler shot by a pair of U.S. Border Patrol agents who were convicted in the shooting made his first appearance on marijuana charges Friday in federal court. Handcuffed and wearing a bulletproof vest, Osvaldo Aldrete Davila was escorted to the federal courthouse Friday by two U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents. He declined to speak with reporters as he walked the short distance from the jail and did not speak in court except to acknowledge that he understood the charges....

Duncan Hunter on O'Reilly with Laura Ingraham

EL PASO, Texas (AP) — A Mexican man shot by a pair of U.S. Border Patrol agents who were later convicted in the shooting has been indicted on federal drug smuggling charges, authorities said Thursday. Osvaldo Aldrete Davila was arrested Thursday at an international port of entry in El Paso, according to U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton. A sealed indictment was issued in October charging him with smuggling marijuana in September and October of 2005, several months after he was shot in the buttocks while fleeing from a pair of Border Patrol agents. The agents, Jose Alonso Compean and Ignacio Ramos,...

Informer tells of corrupt Mexico October 25, 2007 By Jerry Seper - An informant who worked for U.S. authorities for more than four years says government, police and military authorities in Mexico have been corrupted by drug smugglers, often carrying out kidnappings and killings on the orders of drug cartel bosses. The accusations are outlined in sworn testimony before a U.S. immigration judge by Guillermo Eduardo Ramirez Peyro, a former Mexican police officer who was paid $224,000 for information U.S. anti-drug agents used to convict dozens of high-ranking Mexican drug traffickers. Ramirez told U.S. Immigration Judge Joseph R. Dierkes in...

ROCKSPRINGS — When he left home late last year for a jail cell, Gilmer Hernandez was a little known rural Texas deputy charged with shooting into a carload of undocumented immigrants during a late night stop. By the time he returned Monday, after 10 months behind bars for violating the civil rights of a woman injured in the shooting, Hernandez had become a national poster boy for conservatives in the bitter ongoing national debate over immigration. To many, it was proof that undocumented immigrants have more rights than U.S. lawmen. Columnists such as Ann Coulter and Phyllis Schlafly cited his...

The owner of a "stash" house who allegedly worked with a Mexican drug smuggler shot by Border Patrol agents has struck a deal with federal prosecutors. Cipriano Ortiz-Hernandez pleaded guilty last week to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than 1,000 kilograms of marijuana. Cybercast News Service reported last month that Ortiz-Hernandez owned the stash house where Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila of Mexico made drug shipments in October 2005. Ortiz-Hernandez' plea agreement comes after members of Congress criticized a federal prosecutor for granting a "humanitarian" pass for Aldrete-Davila to enter and exit the United States unescorted. Aldrete Davila, already given...

House Republicans and Democrats rebuked U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton today for not appearing at a House subcommittee hearing into his office's prosecution of former U.S. Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean. .. The absence of Sutton and Department of Homeland Security Inspector General Richard Skinner – and an overall lack of cooperation from the Justice Department – will trigger additional oversight hearings demanding answers in the controversial case, said Rep. William Delahunt, D-Mass., chairman of the subcommittee on Internal Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Delahunt pointed out the Justice Department decided Sutton...

WASHINGTON -- Conservative lawmakers said Tuesday that a U.S. attorney in Texas is engaged in an "alarming pattern" of defending the rights of illegal immigrants over those of U.S. law enforcement officers. The accusations came during a House hearing that examined the case of Jose Alonso Compean and Ignacio Ramos, two former Border Patrol agents serving long sentences for shooting a Mexican drug smuggler and trying to cover it up. The U.S. attorney in question, Johnny Sutton of the Western District of Texas, declined to appear before the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee. He has previously defended the prosecution of the...

GLENN: All right. We have congressman Dana Rohrabacher on with us. Congressman, hello. How are you, sir? SENATOR ROHRABACHER: Well, I'm doing pretty good today. I'm actually in a shocked mode. We've been denied access to information by the justice department and by the Department of Homeland Security and it proved to be the worst-case scenario which indicates they were trying to stonewall our investigation. U.S. Congressman Dana Rohrabacher : 46th District Of California GLENN: Congressman, I made a prediction today and I said this yesterday on my TV program that this thing doesn't smell right and the government has...

The drug smuggler who was shot at by former U.S. Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean and testified against them when they were convicted in the case was issued unconditional, unescorted access to the United States during a period that included his involvement in a second drug smuggling incident, according to U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R.-Calif. He has obtained – and provided WND with – copies of Department of Homeland Security border pass cards issued to Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila, the smuggler in the case, covering that period of time. "It appears as though the U.S. Attorney's Office was so...

Bill would de-fund two agents' prison terms July 21, 2007 By Jerry Seper - A Republican congressman yesterday said he will offer an amendment to an annual spending bill to prevent the Bush administration from using funds to enforce the prison sentences of two U.S. Border Patrol agents. Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado said the amendment would force the release of Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean, who were sentenced to 11- and 12-year prison terms for shooting a fleeing drug-smuggling suspect in the buttocks. "Americans have been waiting months for the president to right this wrong and I am...

If you can stand a grown woman talking like a Vally girl, she will be interviewing Johnny Sutton and Ed the former border agent on her show. Registeration required.

U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton of San Antonio on Tuesday fiercely defended the prosecution of two former Border Patrol agents whose case has become a cause celebre among conservatives. Appearing before Congress, a sometimes emotional Sutton said that the two agents — Jose Alonso Compean and Ignacio Ramos — are solely responsible for their fate. “They are not heroes. They deliberately shot an unarmed man in the back … and lied about it,” Sutton told the Senate Judiciary Committee. The agents were sentenced to 12 and 11 years in prison for shooting a suspected drug dealer and trying to cover up...

WASHINGTON — Tackling a case that has become a flashpoint in the immigration debate, senators today denounced as excessive the prison sentences for two Border Patrol agents from Texas who shot and wounded a fleeing, unarmed Mexican drug smuggler. Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn, California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein and other members of the Senate Judiciary Committee criticized the 12- and 11-year prison sentences given to ex-agents Jose Compean and Ignacio Ramos, respectively. And they strongly questioned federal prosecutors' decision to charge the pair with using a weapon during the commission of a crime — a 10-year penalty that most...

A Senate committee will hold a long-promised hearing Tuesday into the prosecution of two U.S. Border Patrol agents sentenced to lengthy prison terms for shooting a suspected drug smuggler in the buttocks as he fled back into Mexico. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat who raised questions about the prosecutions in February, will preside over the Judiciary Committee hearing. She is chairman of the Judiciary subcommittee on terrorism, technology and homeland security. "Border Patrol agents have a difficult and often dangerous job in guarding our nation's borders," she said in letters to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and Homeland Security...

Even after he put him in prison for more than two years, Gary Brugman doesn't hate Johnny Sutton. But thousands of others across the country feel differently, professing a deep abhorrence for Sutton, the top federal law enforcer in San Antonio as the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas. Appointed to the job a month after the 9-11 attacks by longtime friend President Bush, Sutton has in recent months become the target of anti-illegal-immigration groups who say he's leading an unjust campaign against law enforcement officers, particularly Border Patrol agents, such as Brugman before he was convicted of...

Shana Jones, a spokeswoman in U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton's El Paso office, explained in an e-mail that jailed Border Patrol Agent Noe Aleman's crime in trying to adopt his wife's three Mexican nieces was that he lied. "Noe Aleman told lie after lie to circumvent the very immigration laws that as a Border Patrol agent he was entrusted to enforce," Jones wrote. "A jury heard the evidence in this case and convicted him of alien smuggling and conspiracy." With wife, Isabel, Noe Aleman surrenders to prison. (Photo courtesy of Friends of the Border Patrol) To top off the argument, Jones...

President Bush was so buoyed by the warm reception he was given in Albania that he immediately gave all 3 million Albanians American citizenship, provided they learn Spanish. The offer was withdrawn when Bush found out most Albanians haven't broken any U.S. laws. Bush keeps claiming he's dying to enforce the border, but he just can't do it unless we immediately grant amnesty to 12 million illegal aliens. I wonder if that worked on Laura Bush: Laura: George, it's time you quit drinking. George: OK, honey, let's discuss it over cocktails. How about Bush enforce the border and then we'll...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE On Saturday, June 30th, at HIGH NOON, the San Antonio and Austin Chapters of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps. headed by Schuylar Crist and Teresa Alvelo respectively, in partnership with Danny Smith and hundreds of his American Freedom Riders, a nationwide organization of bikers dedicated to stopping illegal immigration, will all descend thunderously upon the office of US Attorney Johnny Sutton and EMPHATICALLY demand he resign, or that President Bush FIRE him for his illegal prosecutions of former Edwards County Deputy Sheriff Gilmer Hernandez, and former US Border Patrol agents Gary Brugman, Ignacio Ramos, and Jose Alonso...

WASHINGTON — Internet cartoons show him with horns and the word "TRAITOR" branded on his forehead. Conservative talk radio derides him as "Johnny Satan." At least two Republican congressmen, normally staunch defenders of the Bush administration, have castigated him on the House floor. If the White House and Justice Department had added Johnny Sutton to the list of federal prosecutors to be fired, his ouster probably would not have raised an eyebrow among Democrats, and it would have pleased much of the president's conservative base. Sutton is the U.S. attorney in west Texas. Based in San Antonio, his border district...

Radio station, KSEV, AM-700 on the dial, has announced prosecutor Johnny Sutton has scheduled an appearance on KSEV radio in Houston on Thursday, May 10th in the 7 AM time slot.

It seems the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas, overseen by Johnny Sutton from his throne in San Antonio, has a PR problem when it comes to dealing with drug smugglers. In the high-profile case of the two Border Patrol agents in Texas who are now serving long prison terms for shooting a drug smuggler in the rear end, conservative media outlets are proclaiming that Sutton’s office showed special favor to the smuggler in order to ruin the lives of the agents. Likewise, in the House of Death mass murder case, an informant was shown special consideration...

U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton, a longtime ally of President Bush, is being targeted by lawmakers and others across the country because of his successful prosecution of three U.S. Border Patrol agents and a deputy sheriff on charges of violating the civil rights of illegal aliens. One congressman accused Mr. Sutton of being "on the wrong side of the border war"; another called the prosecutions "the worst betrayal of American defenders I have ever seen"; one said the cases were a "grotesque misdirection of our judicial system"; and another introduced a bill, now co-sponsored by 90 House members, calling for congressional...

Two illegal aliens plan a multimillion-dollar civil rights lawsuit against a Texas deputy who was sentenced to prison over an April 2005 incident in which the lawman shot at an alien-smuggling vehicle that he said had just tried to run him down. Edwards County Deputy Sheriff Guillermo F. Hernandez, along with his boss, Sheriff Donald G. Letsinger, have been targeted in a pending lawsuit by Maricela Rodriguez-Garcia and Candido Garcia-Perez, two Mexicans who were being smuggled into the U.S. when they were injured by fragments of the lawman's bullets. Mrs. Rodriguez-Garcia, struck by bullet fragments in the cheek and mouth,...

(CNN) -- Former U.S. Border Patrol Agent Ignacio Ramos is serving 11 years in prison for shooting Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila as he ran toward Mexico.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton, both already under siege for other matters, are now being accused of failing to prosecute officers of the Texas Youth Commission after a Texas Ranger investigation documented that guards and administrators were sexually abusing the institution's minor boy inmates. Among the charges in the Texas Ranger report were that administrators would rouse boys from their sleep for the purpose of conducting all-night sex parties.

When Republicans attack, recently it’s more than likely against other Republicans. The liberal RINO contingent of the party most generally assaults its conservative wing while, as with Arizona Senator John McCain, siding with liberal Democrats to pass anti-US sovereignty bills. Of note is McCain’s coupling with leftist Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) toward passing an amnesty-for-illegals and, essentially, an open-borders bill for those criminally crossing the US-Mexico border; a bill that is now being drafted in secret sessions—out of view and denied input from all but the most leftist-minded senators. The fact that the bill’s contents are being drafted covertly speaks...

A former U.S. Border Patrol agent sent to prison for 24 months for violating the civil rights of a Mexican national caught crossing illegally into the United States says three other lawmen convicted by the same federal prosecutor face "real danger" in prison when other inmates find out who they are. Gary M. Brugman, who served time at the Federal Detention Center in Yazoo City, Miss., after his 2002 conviction by U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton in San Antonio, told The Washington Times he made a vest of newspapers and duct tape and wrapped magazines around his waist everyday to protect...

The federal government has recommended a seven-year prison term for Gilmer Hernandez, a Texas deputy sheriff who drew grass-roots support after he was convicted for violating the civil rights of a fleeing illegal alien, WND has learned. In a case prosecuted by U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton in El Paso, who also led the high-profile prosecution of former Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, Hernandez was charged after stopping a van full of illegals for running a stop sign April 14, 2005, in Rocksprings, Texas. The driver attempted to run over Hernandez, prompting the officer to fire his weapon...

The Mexican drug runner whose testimony sent two Border Patrol agents to prison for shooting him in the buttocks brought drugs into the United States more than once, thereby diminishing his credibility as a witness in the investigation, according to a California congressman. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., presented new evidence in a Capitol Hill press conference Wednesday that revealed what he says was U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton's deliberate attempt to mislead the public about Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila's involvement in the transport of a second load of drugs in October 2005.[snip].... ....[snip]But the Drug Enforcement Agency found that Aldrete-Davila brought in another...

(CNSNews.com) - A paid Mexican informer for the U.S. government who worked in an undercover operation targeting a major narcotics cartel allegedly went off the rails and was involved in more than a dozen murders. Amid allegations of a bungled investigation and an accompanying cover-up, at least one member of Congress is calling for hearings into the matter (see related story). Guillermo Ramirez Peyro is now fighting an attempt by the U.S. government to deport him and said he fears for his life at the hands of the cartel should he be sent back to Mexico. Statements from key players...

The Mexican national shot by two Border Patrol agents in a drug-related incident in February 2005 brought a second van load of drugs into the U.S. while he waited to testify against the agents, according to Drug Enforcement Administration reports obtained by the Daily Bulletin. Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila - who was given immunity by U.S. prosecutors in exchange for testifying against former agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean - is the focus of a November 2005 DEA report that identifies him as the person responsible for stashing more than 750 pounds of marijuana in a van parked at a house...

If the illegal immigration situation were not bad enough, evidence accumulating from attempts to unearth the true facts concerning the arrest and conviction of Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean suggest strongly that the United States government is not only trying to placate the Mexican government, but is actually carrying out policies demanded by Mexico.

Supporters of ex-Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean stand at the foot of the Federal Courthouse steps in El Paso last month. (Photos By Ruben R. Ramirez -- El Paso Times Via Associated Press) Early this week, the Bush administration urged angry conservatives to remain calm over the convictions of two former Border Patrol agents who shot an unarmed Mexican drug smuggler, but petitions for their release continued to flood the White House. It did not help that one the lawmen, Ignacio Ramos, was attacked by Latino gang members in his cell at the Yazoo City Federal Correctional...

The speaker of the House of Representatives will be asked to hold hearings on the case of two convicted Border Patrol agents for the shooting of a Mexican drug smuggler. The request, which comes on the heels of the Senate's decision to hold hearings last week on the case, was drafted by Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, and was sent Wednesday to all House members. After the House members' signatures are collected the letter will be sent to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi; John Conyers, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee; Bennie Thompson, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee; and Henry...

With mounting bipartisan criticism from Republican congressmen and California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the Department of Justice has stepped up an unprecedented public relations campaign to defend its prosecution of former Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, now serving 11-and 12-year prison terms. But new facts keep emerging to prove that this prosecution was a gross injustice. CNN judicial expert Jeffrey Toobin described it as “one of the most unusual prosecutions I've ever seen. . . . I am baffled why this case was brought.” So am I. The government prosecuted Ramos and Compean criminally for acts that called...

WASHINGTON – Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila, the Mexican drug smuggler given immunity to return to the United States and testify against two Border Patrol agents, was involved in smuggling a second load of marijuana into the United States after he was given court protection, records have confirmed. Newly released transcripts of the trial for Jose Compean and Ignacio Ramos have corroborated WND reports that the Mexican illegal alien was involved in the second drug case, this one involving a load of marijuana brought into the U.S. in October 2005. That followed his grant of immunity by U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton in return...

A liberal reader rightly points out that Johnny Sutton, the federal prosecutor of the Border Control Agents, has close ties to the Bush Administration. That doesn’t mean that overall Bush supporters, like me, are going to agree with everything done in its name. On illegal immigration, education reform, McCain-Feingold, and the Terry Schiavo case, to name a few examples, many conservatives, like myself, have serious disagreements with Bush; and we are not going to play ‘nice’ and go away on this issue.

EL PASO, Texas - A federal report released Wednesday on the shooting of a suspected drug smuggler by Border Patrol agents concurs with prosecutors that the men failed to report the shooting, destroyed evidence and lied to investigators. Some members of Congress have criticized the case against Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean, who were fired after their obstruction of justice convictions and have each been sentenced to more than a decade in federal prison. Congressional critics, who say the men were doing their jobs when they injured Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila in 2005 near El Paso, had sought the release of...

A Department of Homeland Security memo obtained by WND indicates fingerprints were found on the vehicle abandoned by a Mexican drug smuggler who was given immunity to testify against border agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, apparently contradicting the U.S. attorney's claim that he had no evidence to prosecute the smuggler. U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton repeatedly has said there was no evidence at the scene on the Texas border near El Paso that would have permitted his office to investigate, find and prosecute Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila, whose testimony against the officers led to prison terms of more than 10 years. The...

There was someone in the gallery during President George W. Bush’s State of the Union speech that he would not dare publicly recognize. Even though he knew she was there, I’m confident he never even bothered to look up at Gallery 5, Row B, Seat 9, because sitting in that seat was Monica Ramos, the wife of imprisoned former Border Patrol agent Ignacio Ramos. She was the invited guest of Republican California Congressman Dana Rohrabacher.