Bush Allows the Criminals That Work for Him to Go Free, While Innocent People Rot in Jail

Bush's decision to wipe away the 30-month prison sentence leveled

against the former aide to Vice President Cheney was clearly an effort

to protect the corrupt and criminal White House and above the law.

A GROSS MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE

Do you want to be a Border Patrol agent and do your job to prevent

illegal immigrants from entering the country? Do you want to prevent

drug smugglers from bringing drugs across the border?

If you do your job diligently there is a good chance you may wind up

in jail. That's what has happened to Border Patrol agents Ignacio

Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean.

In February 2005, the agents tried to stop a van driven by drug

smuggler Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila near the Mexico border. After a

scuffle with Compean, Aldrete-Davila fled on foot. Ramos says he

believes that he saw a gun - which the smuggler denies. Both agents

fired at Aldrete-Davila, who fell, then continued his escape across

the border. After he got away, Ramos and Compean filed a report on the

743 pounds of marijuana they found in the van, but not on the gunfire.

As it turns out, Ramos had shot Aldrete-Davila in the butt.

Returning to Mexico, Aldrete-Davila related his misfortunes to his

mother, who contacted the mother-in-law of Border Patrol agent Rene

Sanchez. Sanchez in turn tipped off a member of the U.S. Department of

Homeland Security, who went to Mexico to offer immunity if Osbaldo

would act as a state's witness against Ramos and Compean: the feds

wanted to prosecute the agents shooting the alien narcotics supplier.

To sweeten the immunity deal, the feds paid for Osbaldo Aldrete-

Davila's medical treatment of his ailing backside - a taxpayer-funded

recuperation at William Beaumont Army Medical Center in El Paso,

Texas. He showed his gratitude by breaking his immunity agreement in

October 2005, when officers say he attempted to smuggle 1,000 pounds

of marijuana into America. The prosecution further extended its

immunity to this felony and sealed the indictment from jurors. Aldrete-

Davila repaid this new shower of grace by suing the federal government

for $5 million, alleging the shooting violated his civil rights.

However, he agreed to help in their criminal prosecution, as well, and

the feds are apparently happy to collaborate with the pusher as long

as he helped put effective lawmen behind bars.

U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton, a Bush appointee, prosecuted the agents.

In March, a jury found them guilty of assault with a dangerous weapon,

discharge of a firearm during a violent crime, obstructing justice,

lying about the incident and willfully violating Aldrete-Davila's

Fourth Amendment right to be free from illegal seizure.

Because there was gunfire, the mandatory-minimum prison sentence the

agents will serve is 10 years. As for Aldrete-Davila, he faces no

charges for the 743 pounds of pot. That leaves him free to carry out

his plan to sue the Border Patrol - that is, U.S. taxpayers - for $5

million because his civil rights were violated. What a country.

Ramos, who was nominated Border Patrol Agent of the year in 2005, told

the San Bernardino County Sun, "There's murderers and child rapists

that are looking at less time than me."Ignacio Ramos and wife

At the heart of the prosecution is a vehicle-pursuit policy that makes

absolutely no sense. As Assistant U.S. Attorney Debra Kanof explained

to the Sun, "It is a violation of Border Patrol regulations to go

after someone who is fleeing." It's like a no-arrest policy.

No surprise, Border Patrol agents routinely ignore the regs. As Ramos

responded to Kanof: "How are we supposed to follow the Border Patrol

strategy of apprehending terrorists or drug smugglers if we are not

supposed to pursue fleeing people? Everybody who's breaking the law

flees from us. What are we supposed to do? Do they want us to catch

them or not?"

I will answer that question. No, they do not want you to catch them.

It is one of the things I do not understand about this Administration.

There is no will to enforce the border, protect our sovereignty and

prevent the admission of illegal immigrants or substances.

Last week, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, (Democrat-Calif)., called for a

Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the case, as she fears this

prosecution may represent "a serious miscarriage of justice." It

definitely does.

Sutton's office cannot comment on the case until sentencing, but

referred me to a statement, that explains, "They were prosecuted

because they had fired their weapons at a man who had attempted to

surrender, but, while his open hands were held in the air, Agent

Compean attempted to hit the man with the butt of his shotgun." Later,

the agents picked up shell casings and failed to file a gunfire

report.

Sutton's best point: A jury found the two agents guilty of all charges

except attempted murder. As Bonner sees it, the most punishment the

agents deserve is a five-day suspension for not reporting the

shooting. Say, for argument's sake, that the agents were wrong to

shoot at Aldrete-Davila. They were wrong to not file a report.

Discipline them. Fire them, even. But don't send them to prison for

decades for a bad split-second decision and failure to file a report.

If they were crooks, they would serve shorter time. Last month, a

Border Patrol agent, who admitted to smuggling 100 illegal immigrants

while he served on the Border Patrol, got five years. (Prosecutors had

recommended three years, but in San Diego, U.S. District Judge John

Houston hiked the sentence, telling the man: "You violated the sacred

trust of your comrades. As a link in the chain, they depended on

you.")

Compean's attorney, Maria Ramirez, told me that her client, a first-

generation American, served honorably in the U.S. Navy, then worked

for the Border Patrol. He had a home, now sold, a wife and two

children. Another child is on the way. But in the 15 minutes after the

agents saw that van, after one split-second judgment call, his life

melted away: "In 15 minutes it's gone, just gone."

The two U.S. Border Patrol agents were sentenced to prison terms of 11

years and 12 years for shooting a drug-smuggling suspect in the

buttocks as he fled across the U.S.-Mexico border.

U.S. District Court Judge Kathleen Cardone in El Paso, Texas,

sentenced Jose Alonso Compean to 12 years in prison and Ignacio Ramos

to 11 years and one day despite a plea by their attorney for a new

trial after three jurors said they were coerced into voting guilty in

the case, the Washington Times reported.

Phyllis Schafly writes in Eagle Forum that we need compassion for our

Border Guards. She states

President George W. Bush pardoned 16 criminals including five drug

dealers at Christmastime, but so far has refused to pardon the two

U.S. Border Patrol agents who were trying to defend Americans against

drug smugglers. It makes us wonder which side the self-proclaimed

"compassionate" President is on.

Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean were guarding

the Mexican border near El Paso on February 17, 2005 when they

intercepted a van carrying 743 pounds of marijuana. For what happened

next, they were convicted and sentenced under a statute that was

designed to impose heavy punishment on criminal drug smugglers caught

in the commission of a crime.

The two agents are scheduled to start 11- and 12-year prison

terms, respectively, on January 17, for the crime of putting one

bullet in the buttocks of the admitted drug smuggler, Osvaldo Aldrete-

Davila, and failing to report the discharge of their firearms. The non-

fatal bullet didn't stop the smuggler from running to escape in a van

waiting for him on the Mexican side of the border.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher called the two agents heroes. "Because of

their actions, more than a million dollars in illegal drugs were

stopped from being sold to our children. Bringing felony charges

against them is a travesty of justice beyond description."

The White House and the U.S. Department of Justice are

stonewalling requests for a presidential pardon from 55 Members of

Congress and U.S. citizens who have sent at least 160,000 petitions

and 15,000 faxes. When the Bush Administration deigns to respond at

all, the official line is that the Border Patrol agents got a fair

trial.

But that's not true; they didn't get a fair trial. They were

convicted because the Justice Department sent investigators into

Mexico, tracked down the drug smuggler, and gave him immunity from all

prosecution for his drug smuggling crimes if he would please come back

and testify against Ramos and Compean.

It was massively unfair to give immunity to an illegal alien

narcotics trafficker while destroying the lives and families of two

Border Patrol agents who risked their lives to stop him. Ramos and

Compean were convicted mainly on the testimony of the immunity-

sheltered drug smuggler, whose integrity should have been called into

question, but Ramos and Compean were forbidden to do that during the

trial.

Ramos and Compean were doing what they thought was their job -

preventing a drug dealer from illegally crossing the border with

illegal substances. Yes, they failed to report the fact that they

fired their weapon. Yes, they gave chase to the illegal, which they

were told they shouldn't do. Ok, they broke some rules. Give them six

months in jail - but to sentence them to 11 and 12 years is a gross

miscarriage of justice.

I understand the the judge had no choice because the mandatory Federal

sentence for this is 10 years. Fine, but where is the Presidential

pardon?

According to Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) in House Resolution

1030:

To say that Ramos and Compean have been treated unjustly and

unfairly is an understatement. Adding insult to injury, the U.S.

Attorney's Office has granted immunity to the Mexican drug dealer, the

smuggler who these two officers intercepted. This criminal alien was

caught with 743 pounds of marijuana, and the U.S. Attorney's Office

has treated this criminal as if he were a victim.

At the same time, the book was thrown at our border patrol agents.

I will submit for the RECORD, Mr. Speaker, my letter to the Attorney

General regarding this outrageous case. The brutal treatment of the

two border guards has demoralized our Border Patrol agents. I hope as

we sing our praises today, that we understand that we are, yes,

grateful to all of these people who protect us at the border,

including the two Border Patrol agents that are now under attack.

In the meantime, let the case of Border Patrol agents Ramos and

Compean be revisited and the outrageous criminal charges against them

dropped.

The Washington Times on January 10, 2007 reports,

Republican House members yesterday asked President Bush to keep

two U.S. Border Patrol agents out of prison pending their appeal of

convictions for shooting a suspected drug smuggler in the buttocks as

he fled into Mexico.

"Several discrepancies in the government's case strongly question

whether justice has been served, and permitting these men to be

incarcerated in the interim puts their lives at risk," Rep. Dana

Rohrabacher of California said at a Capitol Hill press conference.

"We're going to find out whose side you're on ... the American

people or the side of our enemies," Mr. Rohrabacher said in a

reference to Mr. Bush. "If you let these two men go to jail for

defending us, then we'll know you're on the side of our enemies."

He was joined by Reps. Duncan Hunter of California, Ted Poe of

Texas, Walter B. Jones of North Carolina, Joe Wilson of South Carolina

and Tom Tancredo of Colorado.

In lieu of a pardon, a letter petitioning Attorney General Alberto

R. Gonzales was presented during the press conference asking the

Justice Department to direct federal prosecutors not to oppose a

motion filed in a Texas court to keep the agents free on bond during

the appeals process.

This is an outrageous miscarriage of justice. These men were

protecting their country and doing what they were hired to do. I

suggest that everyone who agrees with that statement do two things

that will make a difference:

1) Phone the White House and let them know how you feel. The phone

number is: (202) 456-1111.

2) Write to President Bush asking him to pardon Ignacio Ramos and Jose

Alonso Compean. A letter sent by U.S. mail is more effective than a

fax, an email or any other form of communication.

If we have enough people contacting the White House, it will make a

difference. Do it now. And while you are at it, you might ask the

President why he is not willing to enforce our borders.

Meanwhile Ramos has since been attacked and assaulted in prison by 5

other inmates yelling in Spanish "Kill the border guard"..