Posted on 10/19/2006 3:37:27 PM PDT by no dems
Edited on 10/19/2006 4:07:46 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
Ex-border agents sentenced for shooting smuggler
AP
EL PASO, Texas -- Two former U.S. Border Patrol agents were each sentenced Thursday to more than a decade in federal prison for shooting a Mexican drug smuggler and then trying to cover it up.
Ignacio Ramos was sentenced to 11 years and one day, and Jose Alonso Compean was sentenced to 12 years. Both were fired after their convictions on several charges including assault with a deadly weapon, obstruction of justice, and a civil rights violation.
The men, neither of whom spoke in court, will be allowed to turn themselves in Jan. 17.
The agents have proclaimed their innocence in the Feb. 17, 2005, shooting of admitted drug smuggler Osvlado Aldrete Davila.
Aldrete was shot in the buttocks as he fled across the Rio Grande into Mexico after a confrontation with Ramos and Compean. The agents said they shot in self defense, but prosecutors charged that they had no reason to shoot at the fleeing man, who later claimed he was unarmed.
Since their convictions, support for the agents has swelled. Several prominent law makers, including U.S. Rep. James Sensenbrenner, the Wisconsin Republican who chairs the House judiciary committee, have even called for a Congressional investigation into the agents' prosecutions.
The union representing most rank and file Border Patrol agents established a legal defense fund. And civilian border watch groups have asked the U.S. Attorney General's office to review the case and throw out the jury's guilty verdicts.
Dang. The glint off of the windshield might attract a CBP agent to shake down your great grandfather. Depth perception is an important factor. Not that I am dissin' the eyepatch.
Neither is defending a drug smuggler.
Seems to me Gonzales should have attended the trial to defend the agents lest he, himself, end up in the slammer.
It's not too late to send himand he should get along quite well with a third of the prisoners.
Neither have you.
Thinking outside the box a bit what if the purveyors of this shipment had ummm, business partners, on the North side of the Rio Grande. Why it could even be possible that such associates might occupy positions of official importance------like say as prosecutors or judges {or even, dare I say it, Attorneys General}.
One could certainly understand their dismay and desire for retribution at the loss of that new ski-boat, vacation in Vail, etc. Maybe retribution to the point of sending Federal Agents into Mexico to seek out our errant chauffer and lodging him in the safe confines of Ft Bliss for treatmnet and protection and putting on a Stalinist-style show trial to help intimidate other Border Patrol hired hands into being less diligent.
The drug smuggler.
Don't kid yourself.
They do want those border open, don't they?
unless they used it to shoot a fleeing felon, which should've been covered in their training.
This thread is hilarious.
No, they were not convicted of falsifying.
Ramos was the number one agent for stopping drug shipments.
What law enforcement agency did you used to work for?
He'd been lawfully followed for a considerable amount of time earlier.
The reasons for this trial simply do not leap out of the events at the border.
Who do you think gave the DOJ this info, the agents or the drug smuggler? Who got immunity? Who is trying to prosecute?
What side of the story do you think the DOJ report will tell?
The Border Patrol has always been armed. There used to be occasional nighttime shootouts across the river that lasted for hours in the old days.
It does when it's outlawed. I notice you keep hiding from my question about whaat police det. you worked for. Maybe you never worked for one.
What happened to the dope and the van?
Rep. Walter B. Jones, R-N.C., circulated a letter Thursday among his colleagues that slammed federal statute 924(c), which addresses discharging a firearm in relation to a crime of violence. Conviction under the statute carries a minimum 10-year sentence in federal prison.
Jones and five other members of the caucus - including Reps. Gary Miller, R-Diamond Bar, Dana Rohrbacher, R-Huntington Beach, and Ed Royce, R-Fullerton - contend in the letter that El Paso, Texas, area Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean should not have been charged under the statute because carrying a firearm was a necessary part of their jobs, and that they used the firearms whle on duty.
"Yesterday (Tuesday), a motion to delay sentencing for Ramos and Compean was denied. Sentencing is now scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 19," the letter reads. "We urge you to take any action you can to either delay this sentencing or have the ... charges dropped.
"This statute has historically been used in violent crime and drug trafficking cases. It has also been applied to law enforcement when necessary, however, based on past applications of 924(c) to law enforcement, it appears that its application in the present case is unwarranted."
The other two House members who signed the letter were Rep. Darryl Issa, R-Vista, and Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo. It then was forwarded to President Bush and Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, which has scheduled hearings on Ramos and Compean's case in late November.
____
I can't find who is responsible for "federal statute 924(c)"
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.