Posted on 02/12/2007 1:35:42 AM PST by Man50D
The Border Patrol agent with family ties to the Mexican drug smuggler in the case of two jailed border agents may have been involved in back-channel communications with Mexican drug cartels, investigative reports obtained by WND suggest, prompting calls for a special prosecutor to look into the charges.
"We now know that DHS and prosecutor U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton found [smuggler Osbaldo] Aldrete-Davila because the mother-in-law of Border Patrol Agent Rene Sanchez talked with Aldrete-Davila's mother on the phone," Andy Ramirez, chairman of the Friends of the Border Patrol, told WND. "How many other conversations in Mexico did Border Patrol Agent Rene Sanchez have and what was the purpose of those conversations?"
An investigative report filed by Department of Homeland Security Special Agent Christopher Sanchez on July 18, 2005, stated that on July 11, 2005, the DHS Office of Inspector General in El Paso spoke to Agent Rene Sanchez in the Wilcox, Ariz., BP Station, concerning a telephone call Sanchez made to Border Patrol Agent Nolan Blanchett in the Ysleta BP Station in Texas.
At the time of the phone call, Blanchett was temporarily assigned to the Fabens BP Station, the scene of the Feb. 17, 2005, incident with Aldrete-Davila that led to the imprisonment of agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean.
According to the July 18, 2005, DHS memorandum of activity:
(Rene) Sanchez stated that he called Blanchett one or two days after he spoke to DHS OIG on March 5, 2005. Sanchez said he asked Blanchett if he knew anything about a shooting that occurred on February 17, 2005 involving a van loaded with dope in which BP agents shot at the driver. Sanchez said Blanchett told him he knew nothing about the shooting.
A separate March 14, 2005, DHS memorandum of activity filed by Christopher Sanchez, documents that agent Rene Sanchez "queried the Border Patrol Tracking System and found that the Fabens Border Patrol Station seized a load of marijuana on February 17, 2005."
These reports drew the suspicion of Ramirez.
"Why is this Border Patrol Agent Rene Sanchez over in Wilcox, Arizona, so interested in searching out this drug bust information in Fabens, Texas?" Ramirez asked WND. "Sure, we know that Aldrete-Davila and Rene Sanchez grew up together in Mexico. But how much more to the story is there than that?"
WND has learned that prosecutor Sutton's office took steps to prevent Agent Nolan Blanchett from testifying in open court, claiming that Blanchett's testimony would compromise an ongoing investigation.
WND has also learned that Blanchett had received phone calls from BP Agent Rene Sanchez tipping Blanchett off that a sensor hit was about to take place on the border, giving advance warning that a drug-smuggling transport across the border was going to take place. Knowing in advance the when and where of a sensor hit on the border would allow a Border Patrol agent to be in position to interdict the drug shipment and arrest the smuggler.
"How do we know that Agent Rene Sanchez wasn't working with Aldrete-Davila's drug cartel?" Ramirez asked. "Calling Blanchett in advance and letting him know where to interdict a drug shipment might be a good way to eliminate the competition of Aldrete-Davila or whomever he is linked to."
At the Ramos-Compean trial, the defense was not allowed to call Border Patrol Blanchett to the stand for testimony.
"The connection is a little bit too convenient," Ramirez pointed out to WND. "Here we have this Border Patrol Agent Rene Sanchez over in Wilcox, Ariz., and the only way DHS and Johnny Sutton's office find out that Aldrete-Davila was the drug smuggler is because Rene Sanchez tips them off. Then Aldrete-Davila gets immunity and medical care from the prosecutor. Just how closely was Rene Sanchez working with the drug smuggler and what did Rene Sanchez stand to gain when Aldrete-Davila got immunity?"
WND has previously reported Aldrete-Davila's cell phone was found in the abandoned vehicle. This directly contradicts prosecutor Sutton's repeated claim that there was no evidence at the scene, which would have permitted law-enforcement investigators to identify Aldrete-Davila as the perpetrator.
"Where is Aldrete-Davila's telephone?" Ramirez asked WND. "I wonder if Rene Sanchez's phone number was one of the numbers in that phone's memory, or maybe others of higher ranks inside U.S. government agencies or bodies. But then again, what if this guy is a runner for the Tucson Mafia and I am not referring to people of European ancestry either. Why is it that even today nobody knows what network of people Aldrete-Davila called? Why isn't Johnny Sutton going after the drug dealer's network? He gave Davila immunity, not the people Davila liked to call."
WND has obtained the transcripts from the Ramos-Compean trial for the testimony given by Border Patrol Agent Arturo Vasquez on Feb. 24, 2006, and by Agent Oscar Juarez on Feb. 23 and 24, 2006. Both agents gave testimony about the drug dealer's cell phone they found on the scene on Feb. 17, 2005.
Vasquez testified he found the phone in the front seat of the abandoned drug smuggler's Ford Econoline van, with a charging device plugged into the cigarette lighter.
In cross-examination by defense, Vasquez testified about the cell phone as follows:
Q: While you're looking at the phone, you're scrolling through whatever information you can find? A: Yes.
Q: Did you notice whether or not any of the calls are recent?
A: I didn't have the chance to find what I was looking for. I didn't have enough time to get into some of the directory, the actual directory where you can get that information from. Because, while we were going that (Supervisor) Agent (Jonathan) Richards and Lance (Mendrano) got to the area and I had to hand the phone over to Agent Mendrano.
Q: I thought your testimony, though, was tat was, pretty much, all you do is check out the phone.
A: Yes, but I didn't get to the part where I could actually see times and all that.
At this point, prosecutor Debra Kanof interrupted and objected that the testimony was not relevant to the guilt or innocence of Ramos and Compean. Judge Kathleen Cardone agreed, commenting, "It's late on a Friday ... ."
Judge Cardone ruled out cross-examination about the cell phone, stating: "Mr. Aldrete-Davila is not on trial. And everybody knows he's got a phone and everybody knows he was transporting the drugs, but, unless we're getting somewhere that's got to do with this case, I'm concerned we're going of ... ." At that point, Judge Cardone was interrupted once again by Debra Kanof.
On page 186 of his testimony, Agent Juarez corroborated Agent Vasquez's testimony that the drug smuggler's cell phone was found in the abandoned van containing 743 pounds of marijuana.
WND is unable to determine who currently has possession of the cell phone or if any law-enforcement officers made any attempt to identify the owner or the identify of the names in the incoming and outgoing call memory, or the service provider records of the same.
As far as WND can determine, no law-enforcement agency made any attempt to identify Aldrete-Davila's drug network or associates from the recovered cell phone, or if agents were able to determine if the phone records indicate any calls to or received from Border Patrol agents or others connected with U.S. agencies or law enforcement.
As WND previously reported, Agent Vasquez was fired by the Border Patrol and Agent Juarez resigned in anticipation of being fired.
Here's another one from your side who says he doesn't care much if they are guilty or not, because the shot a drug dealer.
Irrelevant. Both are crimes and both should be punished accordingly.
I choose to overlook whatever law they violated
Congratulations, you’ve taken the first step toward a police state.
Major bump!
There's no conspiracy. There are just a lot of people down here on the border that absolutely despise the Border Patrol. They work for the United States Attorney, they work for the Border Patrol and they work for the Mexican government. They will go out of their way to destroy innocent agents.The idea that two Border Patrol agents set out to murder a poor innocent immigrant and then call for backup so every agent in the area could be a witness to the murder is absolutely absurd.
It seems absurd until you realise that, if they guy had not actually KNOWN the mother of another BP agent, we would never have even known there was a shooting, much less that they had hit the guy.
So it doesn't seem so absurd.
When a full and complete story on this travesty has been dragged out of the federal government and verified, I have little doubt that it will provide yet more evidence that we have a federal government that quite simply can no longer be trusted.
They're "guilty" of doing their job, and possibly not following some obscure and seldom enforced proceedural regulation. It was their job to shoot the perp that failed to submit to arrest.
Why do we reward criminals who break into our country and offer them amnesty? Because we are overrun and it's hopeless to enforce the existing laws? Where's the police state? LOL.
Like I said, there are two sets of laws. If some laws are meant to be broken, surely we can pardon these two men who got caught up with their own sense of duty protecting our Nation?
There's a war on the Border, and YOU of all people know it, Marine Inspector.
sw
Failure to heed an officer's request is not currently a capital crime in this country, even for illegals.
IMHO, your comment proves my theory as to why there is so much hysteria over this story. Frustration over illegal immigration and border security are blinding otherwise rational people to the facts in the cases of Ramos/Compean.
Would you be willing to pardon two police officers in your hometown for breaking the law and p.d. protocol? Maybe rogue cops who shoot an unidentified "suspect" should be given a free pass as well since they may have just become "caught up in their own sense of duty protecting" your town.
Would you support a new border policy that would allow our B.P. agents to shoot on sight anyone who looks like they might be an illegal Mexican or who they suspect might be involved in drugs?
One of the problems that many people have about understanding this case is their ignorance about border law enforcement and the Border Patrol in particular. This case is about two people that work for an organization that is essentially under the thumb of the Mexican government and it's appeasers in the US government. Every agent knows that if they shoot an illegal alien a lawsuit is a certainty. The point is, Ramos and Campean went to work everyday knowing that if they were involved in a controversial shooting they would be thrown to the wolves, innocent or not.
The vehicle hit a sensor, so every agent in the area was going to respond. After the vehicle hits a sensor Campean calls for back up. The idea that they would try to murder an illegal alien with witnesses while knowing the propensity for the government to attack innoncent agents is absolutely absurd. If you believe that they intended to murder Aldrete then you must also believe that Ramos and Campean wanted to get the death penalty or life in prison.
Better question....
How cozy is the Bush Judicial Dept.. with the Mexican Government(Drug Cartels).?.
The Sandy Burgular affair sent the red flags a'wavin..
Something stinks in republican judicial matters..
Not closing the Mexican border and jailing anyone that intercepts the Mexican governments MOLE/Mules coming across the border.. is suspicious..
The FCC allowing cBS to investigate themselves was almost funny in the Rathergate affair.. You know the FCC with Colin Powells son as the head of it.. that one.. An agengy with a 300 million dollar budget.. allowed cBS to investigate themselves..
I've been watching Bush legal wranglings ever since..
The boy must think we are STUPID.. and he might be CORRECT..
WONDER what has been going on I'm totally clueless about..
Those are just a few hiighlights..
And yet somehow multiple BP agents have shot multiple illegals, and Sutton hasn't prosecuted any of them and we haven't had multi-million-dollar lawsuits.
Only in this one case where the two agents shot a man for no reason.
Johnny Sutton and Alberto Gonzales should be sharing a prison cell.
Capital????
Who died?
I just get more and more sick hearing about this case. Each bit of information just leads to more evidence of not only conspiracy on the part of the prosecution/government, but to incompetence in between. These two border agents are paying the price for all of the above.
When are the hearings going to start? Will they start? Will anything actually be done?
Why has GW Bush not stepped in already - it's not like some cases where the info is obscure and hard to present. This case is rife with enough doubt that is obvious to anyone even taking a cursory look to get these men out of prison before they end up dead.
Thus the reason I believe this corruption goes all the way to the top...
Looks like the government cares more about protecting agents who are in bed with the invaders than about protecting the borders.
Proceedings Sealed???? Huh?
But mules don't "know" they have the drugs (and I think the quantity would preclude that possibility). And when you take a step farther - and acknowledge that the same drug runner has been caught doing it again -
Union Labor?
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.