Man agents shot ran drugs into U.S. after he was given immunity, DEA report says [Ramos/Compean]

Daily Bulletin ^ | 02/27/2007 | Sara A. Carter

[calcowgirl]

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 in Clint, Texas, in October of that year.

"(A witness) stated that Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila was the individual that dropped off the 1990 Chevy Astro van," according to the DEA document. "This van contained approximately 6 bundles of marijuana."

DEA interviews with the Clint house's owner, Cipriano Ortiz-Hernandez, led to Ortiz-Hernandez's brother, Jose Ortiz, who told DEA agents that Aldrete-Davila had moved the narcotics from Juarez to El Paso, adding that the van Aldrete-Davila was driving needed work, so he referred him to his mechanic brother, Cipriano.

"Jose Ortiz thought for a minute, and then stated that we should know Davila's identity because he is the person who was shot by Border Patrol agents six months ago," the report states.

Cipriano Ortiz-Hernandez also identified Aldrete-Davila as the van's driver after seeing a photo array, according to the DEA documents.

Aldrete-Davila was shot in the buttocks after fleeing a van filled with marijuana and running away from Border Patrol agents in a February 2005 incident near Fabens, Texas, about seven miles from Clint.

Ramos and Compean are now serving 11 and 12 years, respectively, in federal prison after being convicted in March 2006 of assault with a deadly weapon, attempting to cover up their actions, and violating Aldrete-Davila's civil rights.

Both men testified that they thought Aldrete had a gun in his hand while they were chasing him, and feared for their lives when they fired on him.

Aldrete-Davila was given immunity to testify against the agents, along with a special border crossing pass and free medical treatment at a U.S. Army medical center.

Western District of Texas U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton, whose office prosecuted Ramos and Compean, has denied numerous times that Aldrete-Davila brought a second load of narcotics into the United States after being granted immunity.

Sutton said in a Jan. 17 "Myths vs. Reality" press release that "Aldrete has not been subsequently arrested for drug smuggling. Our office is in the business of prosecuting drug traffickers and alien smugglers ... If we had a provable case against Aldrete, we would prosecute him."

Sutton's assertion that Aldrete-Davila has not been arrested is accurate. However, an Oct. 25, 2005, DEA report shows that DEA investigators believed they had sufficient evidence to indict Aldrete-Davila, but their requests to do so were denied by prosecutors.

According to a high-level source close to the investigation, Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura Gregory was notified in October 2005 that Aldrete-Davila was being investigated by the DEA and that the agency had new evidence against him.

Gregory dismissed the warning, the source said.

Shana Jones, special assistant to Sutton, said she could not comment on Gregory's meeting with the DEA, or on the DEA documents.

"We have posted the transcript of the (agents') trial," Jones said. "We are not going to comment about matters that are under seal or are ongoing investigations."

[Ben Ficklin]

This whole conspiracy theory has had its legs knocked out from underneath by the transcripts.

You don't want to talk about the transcripts. Neither does the Daily Bulletin. Or World Nut Daily. Or Corsi. Or members of Congress. In fact, Congress has called off their hearings because of a "scheduling conflict" and can't say when they will be rescheduled.

Instead, faced with your reluctance to talk about or even acknowledge the transcripts, you will have to to keep going back to irrelevant issues such as how many times the smuggler smuggled.

Mean while, the testimoney of the scene of Compean counting his shells and hulls, and then asking Vasquez to go back and look for and pick up the remaining empties is overwhelming. Ignore that!

Once again, faced with the facts, your only argument is to try to malign me by calling me pro-illegal. No doubt, in your next reply you will say that I am not a "True Conservative" or a "Real American".

[Iwo Jima]

I have been very active in the thread discussing the transcripts. Your "scripted" response does not apply to me.

It is difficult to discuss the transcript of evidence that was never discussed in the trial because the government withheld crucial information.

You keep talking about Compean picking up shells. I have asked you before and you have refused to answer me: what did Ramos do wrong along those lines? What did Ramos do wrong at all?

[loboinok]

My statement "did not lie" was specifically addressing the issue of the 2nd drug incident. He was accused of granting a 2nd immunity to the smuggler, he denied it, and he was truthful.

Sutton stated in a press release that OAD was NOT given "complete immunity" however, the testimony at trial was that the immunity was broader than the "use immunity" guaranteed in writing.

To say, with certainty, that Sutton was truthful, you would have to know for a fact, what level of immunity was granted and its limit, if any.

They said the guy was arrested, Sutton denied it, that was truthful.

Yes it was!

They said the guy was indicted, Sutton denied it, that was truthful.

" Fact: In October of 2005, Aldrete-Davila was indicted for smuggling about 1,000 pounds of marijuana. The sealed indictment was subsequently expunged. One of the other individuals who was indicted in that drug seizure was called as a witness for the defense, but was not allowed to testify due to the sealed indictment. Likewise, the DEA agents involved in the seizure were not allowed to testify because it was an ongoing investigation that could have been compromised."

There is no solid evidence that Davilas smuggled drugs a 2nd time.

How does a prosecutor go about obtaining an indictment without solid evidence? How convenient. Ignore the sealed indictment, the expungement of it from the record and then claim there is no evidence.

so it is simply inaccurate to suggest he loves smugglers and hates BP agents.

Perhaps Sutton only loves certain smugglers and maybe he hates only the BP agents who interfere with those smugglers.

Have you signed the petition?

[wastedyears]

***Ramos and Compean are now serving 11 and 12 years, respectively, in federal prison after being convicted in March 2006 of assault with a deadly weapon, attempting to cover up their actions, and violating Aldrete-Davila's civil rights.***

Illegals have civil rights? Maybe I should ask that my status as a US citizen be revoked.

[Kenny Bunk]

They said the guy was indicted, Sutton denied it, that was truthful.

You and the hapless schmoes of the BP been had bad, boy. Sutton is technically correct. Record expunged= never happened. Sealed. Inadmissible. Think annulled marriage: never happened.

Charles is absolutely and technically correct in every way, which is exactly what counts in court. Sutton did not lie, or deny the truth. I.E., did not deny, or state, the truth.

[CharlesWayneCT]

Fact: In October of 2005, Aldrete-Davila was indicted for smuggling about 1,000 pounds of marijuana. The sealed indictment was subsequently expunged. One of the other individuals who was indicted in that drug seizure was called as a witness for the defense, but was not allowed to testify due to the sealed indictment. Likewise, the DEA agents involved in the seizure were not allowed to testify because it was an ongoing investigation that could have been compromised."

That news item has yet to be confirmed by any evidence.

[loboinok]

Sutton is technically correct. Record expunged= never happened.

"Expunged record" implies what, "technically"?

Sign the petition and we'll "technically" consider it "crow seasoning"!

[calcowgirl]

Speaking of ignorance of the law, you may wish to brush-up on Limited Use Immunity.

It was not Limited Use Immunity, despite Johnny Sutton's many assertions as such (yet one more 'mis-truth' from our Government). The Prosecutor admits in the transcripts that his immunity was verbally expanded at time of signing and that is what the court recognized. And when push came to shove, what he didn't have immunity for, he invoked the Fifth Amendment. Read the transcript.

[Ben Ficklin]

"What did Ramos do....."

In spite of what the conspiracists say, the shooting of the smuggler was not the big issue. In fact, the authorities have said they would not have prosecuted them for the shooting if they had not tried to cover it up. They probably would have lost their job, but not prosecuted. For the Border Patrol, the cover up was worse than the shooting.

What they both did wrong was, first, they didn't report the shooting, and second, they tampered with the evidence by picking up the spent shells.

The Border Patrol has a serious corruption problem. First, the drug money floating around easily corrupts and second, bringing in a relatively large number of new officers allows bad apples to get in. On a fairly regular basis, we see news of BP agents getting caught in corruption. Think of the ones that don't get caught.

While many see Ramos and Compean as heros to be defended, they were corrupt. Reading the transcripts you see that all five of them were involved in the coverup. They didn't discuss the coverup, they just knew to do it, implying that they had covered up previous incidents. The testimoney revealed Vasquez' obsession with whose telephone numbers were stored on the smuggler's cell phone as if he was trying protect someone.

Everyone likes to say that Sutton was a evil prosecutor and shouldn't have gone after these men.

The reality is that the BP did a very thorough investigation of this particular event. No doubt, they also investigated these men's employment record for other events that, in retrospect, looked suspicious. No doubt they considered all their options as to how to handle it. In the end, it was the BP that brought Sutton in on it. It was their decision, not Sutton's.

[1rudeboy]

The Limited Use Immunity was verbally expanded to include future drug smuggling arrests? Please stay focused.

[calcowgirl]

He had more than limited use immunity.
Please don't misrepresent facts.

[1rudeboy]

Ok, he had "more than limited use immunity but not enough to avoid taking the Fifth." Got it.

[1rudeboy]

Making it Limited Unlimited Use Immunity, I suppose.

[Wolfie]

You could throw quite a party with all the drugs the DEA has let their informants bring in over the years.

[Arizona Carolyn]

What the heck! The same paragraph jumped off the page to me as well.

[isom35]

well at least he wasnt just sittin' around doin' nuttin'

[Arizona Carolyn]

I think you must be correct. They reported on our news last night that 1/3 of all murders in the Phoenix metro area last year were done by people here illegally. IMO that is huge info that no one is reporting... plus you have the little boy kidnapped in Florida last week, the shooting of the police in Long Beach last December and so much more.

I just pray our next President isn't so chummy with our Southern neighbors he continues to give what will be left of our country away.

[SoCalPol]

The more that is reported on the Border Patrol agents and the perp who walks free and continues his illegal doings reminds me of a Kafka novel.

For those in flyover country, we in Calif. see so much crime from murder, drugs, kidnappings, beheadings,
by illegals that we wonder what happened to the rule of law to let so many illegals go free or serve so short a time.

[Iwo Jima]

Once again, when did RAMOS pick up any shells. When, where, and to whom was RAMOS obligated to report any shooting? And what are the penalties for any such failure of RAMOS to report?

[calcowgirl]

In spite of what the conspiracists say, the shooting of the smuggler was not the big issue.

"Not the big issue"???? The shooting of the smuggler is what accounted for 10 years of their sentences 11 and 12 year sentences.

What they both did wrong was, first, they didn't report the shooting, and second, they tampered with the evidence by picking up the spent shells.

Ramos NEVER tampered with evidence, never picked up a shell casing, and never lied to anyone, nor was he charged with any of the above. Are you just making this stuff up?

Everyone likes to say that Sutton was a evil prosecutor and shouldn't have gone after these men.

Overzealous? Yes. Charging defendants with inappropriate violations? Yes. 'Misrepresenting' facts (i.e. lying)? Yes. But evil? I don't know that anyone has said that.

The reality is that the BP did a very thorough investigation of this particular event. No doubt, they also investigated these men's employment record for other events that, in retrospect, looked suspicious.

Whew! And you call others conspiracists? Do you have anything to back that up?

In the end, it was the BP that brought Sutton in on it. It was their decision, not Sutton's.

Wrong again. The BP reported it to DHS-OIG, per DHS policy. Instead of handling it administratively, the DHS-OIG took it to Sutton. Sutton is the one who decided to prosecute it criminally. When the BP agents wouldn't agree to their plea deals, they continued to pile on additional criminal charges in superceding indictments. Conversely, when the DEA brought evidence of OAD's second drug smuggling offense to Sutton, he chose not to prosecute. I disagree with Sutton's priorities.