Posted on 04/09/2007 10:25:31 AM PDT by EternalVigilance
More claims brought closer to witness in Ramos-Compean prosecution
An arrest in a drug case involving thousands of pounds of marijuana brought from Mexico into the U.S. is raising anew questions about the prosecution of former Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, who shot at a fleeing drug smuggler in a confrontation in 2005, then were convicted for that shooting and now are serving prison terms of 11 and 12 years.
According to authorities, Cipriano Ortiz-Hernandez, suspected of running a Texas "stash house" where multiple loads of marijuana from Mexico were delivered into the United States, has been arrested and is being held pending trial.
As WND has reported, Cipriano Ortiz-Hernandez already was under indictment on federal drug charges stemming from about 5,000 pounds of marijuana allegedly delivered to his home, mostly in 2005.
Ortiz-Hernandez also has identified Ramos-Compean case witness Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila as the man who delivered 750 pounds of marijuana to that location in October 2005 – while Aldrete-Davila was under a grant of immunity for an earlier drug smuggling operation when he encountered Ramos and Compean, and ended up with a bullet wound.
Those agents chased Aldrete-Davila while he was trying to smuggle a load of hundreds of pounds of drugs into the United States in February 2005, and Aldrete-Davila was injured when the officers fired at him.
He later was granted immunity for that episode by federal prosecutors, and returned to the United States to give testimony that helped convict the border agents, who now are in prison. However, during his testimony, he portrayed himself as someone who had tried to smuggle drugs only the one time because of his financial situation, and the jury never was told that he had been implicated in the second smuggling operation.
"What is the government going to do now?" Joe Loya, father-in-law of Ramos, asked WND. "According to the criminal complaints WND has already published, Ortiz-Hernandez has admitted being involved with Aldrete-Davila in the second drug incident."
"Now the government is in a dilemma,” Loya said. "Is the government going to give Aldrete-Davila immunity again? If the government indicts Aldrete-Davila, they are going to have to admit that prosecutor U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton allowed Aldrete-Davila to lie in the Ramos and Compean trial when Aldrete-Davila said he was not a professional drug smuggler."
"I'll bet you that Ortiz-Hernandez will put the finger on Aldrete-Davila, just like he did in October 2005 when DEA and Border Patrol first interviewed Ortiz-Hernandez at the Fabens, Texas, Border Patrol Station," Loya told WND.
Sutton's office said because of "ongoing investigations regarding this matter," officials couldn't comment.
"However, we have been clear and unambiguous, Aldrete received immunity only for offenses which occurred on Feb. 17, 2005, and has no immunity or protection for any other crimes that he may have committed. As we have said many times, this office will pursue criminal charges where there is prosecutable criminal activity and competent evidence to prove it," the statement said.
"This statement sounds like we're going to be told next that Sutton's office doesn't have enough information to prosecute Aldrete-Davila for the October 23, 2005, offense Ortiz-Hernandez is charged with committing," Loya said. "Why don't we just send Sutton copies of the Department of Homeland Security, Drug Enforcement Agency, and U.S. District Court criminal complaints we have that substantiate Aldrete-Davila's involvement. How is Sutton going to explain those documents away?"
WND has reported that a Department of Homeland Security investigative report filed by Special Agent Christopher Sanchez on Nov. 21, 2005, documents that Ortiz-Hernandez identified Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila was the person who drove the 750 pounds of marijuana to Ortiz-Hernandez's safe house on October 23, 2005.
WND also has published criminal complaints filed in U.S. District Court on March 2 and March 6, 2007, that provide corroboration that Aldrete-Davila was the person who delivered 752.8 pounds of marijuana in a Ford Astro van to Ortiz-Hernandez's home in Clint, Texas, Oct. 23, 2005.
"Let's hope the government investigates the drug smugglers surrounding Ortiz-Hernandez more than they did in the Ramos-Compean case," Loya said. "In Ramos and Compean's case nobody ever investigated the cell phone Aldrete-Davila left in the drug van. We still don't know even today where that cell phone is."
WND has obtained a March 18, 2005, U.S. District Court order of detention issued by U.S. Magistrate Judge Norbert J. Garney mandating that Ortiz-Hernandez remain in custody pending trial because he is a flight risk.
The detention order reads that the preponderance of evidence establishes that "the defendant (Ortiz-Hernandez), a citizen of Mexico, without legal permission to remain in the United States, was arrested for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute over 1000 kilograms of marijuana."
The detention order noted that Ortiz-Hernandez "has strong familial ties to Mexico and has a criminal history which includes a history of failure to appear."
"Now that Ortiz-Hernandez has been arrested and indicted, Ramos and Compean should be released immediately," Loya added. "If Sutton had told the jury about this second October load, the government's case would have been thrown out the window. How would any jury convict Ramos and Compean if the jury knew that Aldrete-Davila, the government's chief witness, was a liar?"
"What the documents show is that Sutton's office let Ortiz-Hernandez operate his safe house for two years after he was first busted for drugs in March 2004," Loya said. "Now it's three years since March 2004 and Sutton is finally getting around to prosecuting him. How many years are we going to have to wait for Sutton to prosecute Aldrete-Davila? How many more loads of drugs does Aldrete-Davila have to bring across the border before Sutton does anything?"
"WND has reported that Ortiz-Hernandez was indicted on March 28, 2007, on three counts of federal criminal drug charges.
So, the instant an illegal foreign national invader steps over our border, he's invested with all the protections of the U.S. Constitution, eh? Is this what they call a "path to citizenship"?
Did they know he was an illegal when they arrested let him escape?
Ah, so you’re in the “lock up the LEO, let the illegal invader drug runner go free” camp, eh?
Ah. It’s the LEO’s fault. Gotcha.
Who let the illegal invader drug runner escape? Was it your fault?
Should they be in prison for a dozen years?
You sure are from Illinois aren’t ya???
I know your smarter than the average bear, but don’t you ever kinda, just a little, sit back and scratch your head when you hear or see somethig that just doesn’t seem right to you???
No conspiracy is not worth looking a little into, just to see how far the rabbit hole goes...
And to qualify this, this particular issue is not a conspiracy, it is though a little strange that the efforts to “get” these particular BP agents seemed a little over the top from our investigative and prosecutorial enties, would you at least agree, based upon what has been spoon fed to the public???
I will be the first to admit once again that news is not evidence, and that the portayal of the BP agents and their actions, testimony and evidence didn’t paint them in a good light...
But if you looked at the guy they supposedly “mistreated”...Uhhh, shot in the a$$...It just seems to me that the two sides of the story, at the very least cancel each other out, and that when it came to investigating the investigation...It just looked like someone was looking for a fall guy(s)...
And now the big picture is once again clouded, with inaction, hesitation, and apathy towards enforcing our border against the criminals who seek to exploit it...
Not to mention that it is entirely possible and likely that shortly we will give a pass to those who are here, once again illegally, and that the door will be wide open with no real risk of discovery, capture and at the most deportation, that is really the bottom line of all of this...
Tell me what you think, I honestly want to know how you may think this won’t effect you in the utopia of Blagovich and Daly’s Illinois???
I don’t think the Border Patrol agents should be in jail, but having said that, I do not see the relevance of whether the witness lied about being a repeat drug importer.
The BP said he thought he saw a gun in the perp’s hand.
The prosecution said there was no gun, and offered as proof the testimony of the perp that he didn’t have a gun.
But ... if there was evidence introduced that the perp lied about not being a repeat drug importer.... there is no reason to believe that he would lie about not having a gun ... and so the jury could discount his testimony entirely.
Now .. could the jury convict the BP beyond a reasonable doubt of shooting the perp without reason when there was uncontested testimony that he saw a gun and fired his weapon to defend himself???
I think not.
If you shot at somebody, how much time should you do? Should an LEO do more or less time than a civilian for the same thing?
Sure. All things being equal, this isn't the first case I would pick to spend resources on.
But if you looked at the guy they supposedly “mistreated”...
They shot at him. I hope I never get "mistreated" like that.
It just seems to me that the two sides of the story, at the very least cancel each other out
Cancel each other out? LOL!
Not to mention that it is entirely possible and likely that shortly we will give a pass to those who are here, once again illegally, and that the door will be wide open
We need a big wall and we need to squeeze employers until many illegals leave. When we catch them, we should send them back. Anchors included.
Tell me what you think, I honestly want to know how you may think this won’t effect you in the utopia of Blagovich and Daly’s Illinois???
I think it will effect Chicago. We have a huge concentration of illegals. Anything that makes border enforcement (LOL!) weaker will only send more illegals here.
Your posts make me think you don’t know what it’s like down on our southern border these days.
Yeah right.
They’ve been betrayed and handcuffed by their own leadership.
Yup. Now it's harder for the good ones to stop the inflow. And it's harder for the bad ones to shoot and cover it up.
And of course, yes anyone who is in the US has the same Constitutional rights (which are different than citizenry rights). You see, that's what our FF meant when they said they were "inalienable". That means no one can take them away from you (for those of you in Rio Linda)...because they are bestowed on you by God, not man. If man bestowed them, man can take them away.
It’s not really about the rule of law to you, is it? It’s about shooting illegal Mexicans in the ass, which you prefer over preventing a police state.
“But ... if there was evidence introduced that the perp lied about not being a repeat drug importer.... there is no reason to believe that he would lie about not having a gun ... and so the jury could discount his testimony entirely.”
Jury members said they gave no weight to OVD’s testimony...the cover up and inconsistent testimony of R&C was what convicted them.
“Your posts make me think you don’t know what it’s like down on our southern border these days.”
Yes things are bad, and you’re solution is illegally without warrant or cause to shoot all the Mexicans?
And everyone who looks like a Mexican. And everyone who likes Mexican food.
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