If you don't want to discuss the Federal minimum Guidelines or the unfairness of the penalty received by Sandy Berger, than I don't care to discuss it with you either. There is more than just the rule of law at stake here, there is the question of whether that rule has been fairly applied and the even more disturbing question of abuse of government power.
There are numerous instances in this case of distortion and lying. The DHS I/G has admitted that his deputies lied to Congress about this case. A Border Agent who is a buddy of the smuggler is assigned custody of the smuggler and the ballistic evidence. The smuggler under oath says his BP pal briefed him, aided him, talked to him about ways to get medical attention and money from the USA. The agent denies it. These are two of the critical players in this drama.
If you don't think a smuggler getting $5 million and USBP Agents getting more than ten years in jail is a miscarriage of justice, we are definitely done discussing this.
Years ago, I brought up the subject of the unconstitutionality of our Federal Sentencing Guidelines here and was accused of being a dope-smoking libertarian by the law & order crowd. Now, the law & order crowd is outraged by our Federal Sentencing Guidelines. Meanwhile, I consider myself to be a law & order type. I've stood in one place and watched as the parameters of the argument expand and contract to include my position. Welcome aboard.
As for Sandy Berger, you brought him up . . . if you choose to make a comparison between these two cases, please proceed.
I noticed that you used the term, "buddy" and "pal" in describing the smuggler's relationship with the border agent. Were they in fact, buddies and pals? I haven't read nor heard that this is true. Also, are you suggesting that we should take the word of the smuggler over the word of this border patrol agent? I sure wouldn't do that. How ironic that the defenders of the border patrol agents in general and specifically, Ramos and Compean, have attempted for a long time now to discredit and insult the honor of another border patrol agent.