Border agents facing prison sentence receive bi-partisan support from Congress; members asking for White House reviews, Congressional hearings

August 23, 2006

Congressional hearings, as well as reviews by the White House and the Justice Department have been requested by both Democrats and Republicans in Congress regarding the conviction of two U.S. Border Patrol agents who shot and wounded a fleeing drug suspect.

The agents each face 20 years in prison after they were convicted by a federal jury in El Paso in March. They will be sentenced in September.

California Sen. Dianne Feinstein is asking the Senate Judiciary Committee to fully review the case of two Border Patrol agents facing 20 years in prison for violating a drug smuggler's civil rights.

'It appears the facts do not add up or justify the length of the sentences for these agents, let alone their conviction on multiple counts,' said Feinstein, California Democrat. 'Border Patrol agents have a difficult and often dangerous job in guarding our nation's borders.

In a letter to President Bush, Rep. Walter B. Jones, North Carolina Republican, asked the White House to review the case, saying the prosecution was 'outrageous.' He said it did nothing but 'tie the hands of the Border Patrol and prevent the agency from securing America against a flood of illegal immigrants, drugs, counterfeit goods and, quite possibly, terrorists.'

'This demoralizing prosecution puts the rights of illegal smugglers ahead of our homeland security and undermines the critical mission of better enforcing immigration laws,' Jones said. 'These two agents should not be made scapegoats for our government's enforcement failures.'

Rep. James Sensenbrenner, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, called for a congressional investigation and open hearing on the Ramos/Compean case during an immigration field hearing in El Paso. The congressional investigation is expected to begin before the end of the year.

A federal jury convicted agents Ignacio Ramos, 37, and Jose Alonso Compean, 28, in March of causing serious bodily injury, assault with a deadly weapon, discharge of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence, and a civil rights violation. The shooting occurred Feb. 17, 2005, near Fabens, Texas, about 30 miles southeast of El Paso.

Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila, a Mexican national, was wounded as he ran from the agents along the Rio Grande after they said he pointed what appeared to be a gun at them as they tried to apprehend him. Nearly 800 pounds of marijuana, worth $1 million, was found in the van that he abandoned at the river's edge, the Border Patrol said.

Aldrete-Davila, who was given immunity by prosecutors to testify against the agents. He is suing the government for $5 million for violating his civil rights.

'The circumstances do not justify the verdict, and these convictions are already having an adverse impact on the Border Patrol,' Feinstein said.

Ramos said Aldrete-Davila pointed what he believed to be a gun at him. Ramos fired one shot. He did not know the single shot had hit Aldrete-Davila in the buttocks because the smuggler kept running and disappeared into the brush along the Rio Grande.

Aldrete-Davila was later seen by agents at the scene getting into a van on the Mexican side of the border. He left behind a van filled with nearly 800 pounds of marijuana, worth more than $1 million.

Ramos said he fired at the fleeing suspect but did not think he had been hit after watching him run through the bush, jump into an awaiting van in Mexico and speed off.

An investigator from the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General tracked down Aldrete-Davila in Mexico, where he was offered immunity in exchange for testimony. The department oversees the Border Patrol.

An El Paso jury convicted both agents of assault with serious bodily injury; assault with a deadly weapon; discharge of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence; and a civil rights violation. Compean and Ramos also were convicted of four counts and two counts, respectively, of obstruction of justice for not reporting that their weapons had been fired.

On July 25, the El Paso U.S. Probation Office recommended to Judge Kathleen Cardone that each man serve 20 years in federal prison.