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Pols: Get Border Agents Out of Solitary
Long story short: On Feb. 27, 2005, Ramos and Compean shot at the drug runner after they tried to stop the vehicle he was driving. They say they thought he had a gun and that the vehicle he was driving was carrying drugs across the border into the U.S. It was, in fact - 700 pounds of marijuana. But that's not important here.
The smuggler, Osvaldo Aldrete Davila, tried to flee, they shot at him and a bullet went into his butt and shattered his urethra (wahhh). They were convicted of shooting him and trying to cover it up; federal sentencing guidelines mandates 10-year prison terms just for the shooting. Excessive? Yes. Even the prosecuting attorney has alluded to such in interviews with me in the past, but he claims he was just doing his job. Lawmakers have asked President Bush to pardon the agents but he has refused. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., one of the agents' most vocal supporters, has said Ramos and Compean are worse off in solitary than Al Qaeda suspects are at Gitmo. They are in their cells 23 hours a day, don't get to partake in the same activities as other inmates, such as regular telephone use, daily showers, or TV access.
Ramos and Compean went before the Fifth District Court of Appeals in New Orleans in December and are still awaiting a decision. The three-judge panel, which was quite sympathetic to the agents' cause, was supposed to issue a decision in 70 to 75 days; it's been 124.
"I literally choked up – it was the first time we had an objective, legal mind analyze this case," Tara Setmayer, Rorhabacher's spokeswoman, told Political Machine today of the appeals proceedings. "Even though we were hoping it would come down sooner, I think it's a good sign, it's positive."
Setmayer thinks the appeals court could remand the case back to trial. If that happens, defense lawyers will be able to question Davila about a second load of drugs he brought into the U.S. while under the protection of this country. Click here to read more on that. He was given immunity for his testimony against the U.S. agents. Yes, you heard right. The U.S. government arrested Davila last November - two years after he brought in that second load of drugs. I have copies of the Drug Enforcement Agency documents detailing that so-called "October load." There's little doubt Davila - described in those papers as a "Mexican male ... and has a colostomy bag" - is the suspect dropping off another 752.8 pounds of pot.
Rohrabacher and Rep. Bill Delahunt, D-Mass., sponsored a House resolution to have the agents' sentences commuted. It now as the support of a bunch of Democrats. "That's pretty significant because we had no Democrats a year ago," Setmayer said today. "It does show there has been a groundswell of support coming form the Democrats' side, which lends to the credibility that this isn't a partisan case."
Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., another lawmaker who has taken an avid interest in the agents' case, spoke with Bureau of Prisons Director Harley Lappin yesterday morning. Hunter and Rohrabacher want Ramos and Compean - who are at two separate prisons in Arizona and Ohio - out of solitary confinement. The BOP says they're in there for their own safety.
"After enduring 14 months of the harsh conditions of solitary confinement, Mr. Lappin should do the right thing and exercise his authority to move the agents into more human conditions," Rohrabacher said. Added Hunter: "They should be moved to a minimum security facility where they will not be threatened and under such restrictive conditions."
Bush recently pardoned heroine and crack distributors and smugglers, among others, much to the dismay of lawmakers who want Ramos and Compean freed. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., on Wednesday called the recent pardons part of Bush's "March Madness," all part of a "coverup of misconduct."
"Mr. Bush commuted the sentence of yet another drug dealer, but not the agents who were on our front lines of defense against terrorists and coyotes," Tancredo said. "I'm starting to think they would have a better chance of getting the president's attention if they had helped smuggle in the pot."
The Ramos-Compean blog can be found here. Information from the National Border Patrol Council can be found here.
Enraged? Contact your House or Senate representative and urge them to get them involved. Some punishment may have been deserved, but not one more severe than what child rapists, murderers and other scum of the Earth often get.
Recent Comments
(Page 1 of 1)Elbert9:45PMApr 3rd 2008
I can't belive they are still in prison the proscutor
that lied to the court should be the one in prison not
Ramous and and copean George W Bush should pardon these
men and pay them Back Pay for doing their job
its a shame What we have in washington lying to americans and not standing up for America instead
of Mexico.
tzada12:06AMApr 4th 2008
We need those men out and more just like them patroling our borders, against monsters like these. Obama's church supports Hamas which is a terrorist orginization like these belong to. They had planned to open training camps in Oregon.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=555465&in_page_id=1770&ct=5
British Muslims 'planned to kill thousands by bombing SEVEN transatlantic airliners in one go'
By CHARLOTTE GILL and SAM GREENHILL - More by this author » Last updated at 00:55am on 4th April 2008 A gang of British Muslims planned to blow up seven planes within hours in the biggest terrorist atrocity since 9/11, a court heard yesterday.
Two thousand passengers would have died in the plot by eight fanatics working "in the name of Islam", the jury was told.
It could have involved up to 18 suicide bombers. And they were almost ready to strike.
The jets they targeted would all have been bound from Heathow to cities in the U.S. and Canada, it was claimed.
robert l. Huffstutter2:43AMApr 4th 2008
Ummmmmmm....my rear. THE GUARDS WILL BE SET FREE BY A NEW ADMINISTRATION THAT WILL LOSE NO TIME IN GETTING TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE.
BajaRat10:17AMApr 4th 2008
These two agents deserve a medal for defending our porous borders and should never have been tried in the first place. Aldrete-Davila, th long-time Mexican scumbag drug mule who claims to have been shot, is now rotting in prison and should be there for a long, long time. The two worst cretins in America, treasonous Texican George Dublayoo Boosh, and his corrupt lackey Johnny Sutton, should be housed in the cell next to that bean-eating vulture for about 50 years each.
RSG5:24PMApr 4th 2008
Ramos and Compean were with their supervisors, at the scene of the illegal alien smuggler (aka, a Mexican), that's why reporting the incident to their supervisors is meaningless.
The case has some grey areas but the system should error on the side of law enforcement and not the chronically corrupt, narco nation of ol' Meh-hee-co.
It's an invasion folks. We're being invaded by an army of grade school educated ants, who are 100% all criminals - identity stealing, social security fraud commiting, driving without a license, illegal amigos.
Stop the madness. Deportation is the only solution. Start rounding up amigos. The only solution.
players12:42PMApr 5th 2008
RSG, I appreciate your comments but, like most people, who have an interest in this story you don't have your facts straight. If you really want to know what truly happened read thetrial transcripts like I did and see if that matches up with what you've been reading in the media nd in the blogs... It won't!
The fact is, the supervisors did not arrive on the scene until after the shooting took place. They did not know that shots had been fired. If they did an evidence team would have been formed and these agents would probably not have been convicted. Instead Ramos and Compean tried to cover up the shooting and only after they were confronted did they come up with the "he had a gun story."
I for one do not want our law enforcement to be judge, jury and executioner. Your opinion may vary!
Sheri1:23PMApr 5th 2008
It is a shame that someone who was caught being drugs into the USA twice can run free while the 2 agents who risk their lifes daily are caged like animals. Illegals have more rights than law abiding citizens.
What is wrong with this picture?
Tony Protano1:40PMApr 12th 2008
WHEN ARE ANY OF YOU GOING TO TALK ABOUT GAS PRICE AND WHAT YOUR GOING TO DO
Howard Harden1:57PMApr 19th 2008
The Departent of Homeland Security did its own investigation and concluded that the supervisors were, in fact, there. I have read the document myself. Conveniently for the prosecution, this document was not released until after the trial!
Furthermore, during the appeal procedings, the prosecutor's team admitted that Davila lied under oath, violating his immunity. THAT MOMENT they had full legal authority and a responsibility to arrest Mr. Davila, but they did not do so at that time because it would have hurt their case against Ramos and Compean. These are easily verifiable facts and from seeing Sutton on tv the other day, I think he realizes that every argument he's made defending himself has unraveled.
I never cease to amazed how little homework defenders of Johnny Sutton have done. Any time you talk to someone who has studied this case in depth, they are supporters of Ramos and Compean
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players9:39PMApr 3rd 2008
Ummm, Ramos and Compean are guilty! They had no legal authority to pursue Aldrete-Davilla at the time that they did. Nor did they know who he was or what was in his van until after they shot at a him. All they knew at the time was that a was man running away from them. The gun story did not surface until after the agents were arrested. The agents also did not verbally report to their superior that they had fired their weapons (as they are required to.) They also destroyed evidence and enlisted others to help hide additional evidence in a concerted attempt of a coverup!
The reason the court has not spoken yet is because they are going to uphold the convictions. Guilty as charged