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| Senate criticizes sentences for border agents |
| 2007-07-18 |
| WASHINGTON - Plunging into a case that has enraged border-enforcement activists, Senate leaders Tuesday denounced 11- and 12-year prison sentences handed down to two Border Patrol agents convicted of shooting an unarmed Mexican drug dealer. Calling the jail time given in October to former agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean "excessive" and "extreme," lawmakers led by California Sen. Dianne Feinstein challenged a series of decisions made by prosecutors in the case. "I'm one that believes this sentence is disproportionate. What we can do about that remains another subject," Feinstein said, stopping short of urging a pardon while presiding over a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the case. Several other lawmakers, however - including Reps. Duncan Hunter, R-San Diego, and Dana Rohrabacher, R-Huntington Beach/Long Beach - have attacked the harsh treatment of the officers and said the agents deserve to have their sentences commuted. "As we now see, Scooter Libby can be set free. Two Border Patrol agents who languish in solitary confinement, whose lives are in danger, those lives don't count a bit with this administration," Rohrabacher said. "This whole episode stinks to high heaven." Ramos, 37, and Compean, 28, were sentenced to 11- and 12-year prison terms, respectively, for shooting Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila, a Mexican national, in the buttocks as he fled into Mexico after abandoning 743 pounds of marijuana near Fabens, Texas. The former agents also were found guilty of tampering with evidence for failing to report the shooting. Compean additionally was convicted of tampering with evidence for collecting shell casings in what prosecutors said was another attempt to cover up the incident. Tuesday's hearing at times took on the tone of an unofficial retrial, as senators questioned the U.S. attorney's decision not to charge the drug smuggler, Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila, and to give him a "humanitarian visa" in addition to immunity in exchange for testimony against the border agents. Lawmakers also took issue with the prosecutor's decision to charge the agents with using a weapon during the commission of a crime. The charge carries a mandatory 10-year sentence and is traditionally used against drug dealers. "Somebody somewhere concluded that discipline needed to be applied to Border Patrol agents," Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., said, calling the agents' punishment "excessive." Texas U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton defended his prosecutors and laid blame at the feet of the border agents. "I do not take lightly the decision to prosecute a law-enforcement officer for using his gun," Sutton said. But, he said, Ramos and Compean "deliberately shot an unarmed man in the back without justification, covered it up and lied about it." He maintained prosecutors were unable to go after the drug smuggler because the agents - in an attempt to cover up the shooting - destroyed the crime scene, including evidence linking Aldrete-Davila to the drugs. "Had these guys done their job, (Aldrete-Davila) would have been in prison," Sutton said. "If our agents had just come up to us and said, `A doper just pointed a gun at us and we shot him,' we would be moving mountains to get that guy." Senators remained skeptical and irate. Several said they want to see Congress clarify the circumstances of when the weapons charge could be used against a law-enforcement officer who used a gun on the job. Feinstein said her staff has found only one case in which the charge had been used against law-enforcement officers. "I think it's pretty clear that it was designed to be used against drug traffickers to try to encourage the drug trafficker not to carry a weapon, and here it's used in a different way," she said. She vowed to look into possible changes. "I think this really is a case of prosecutorial overreaction in charging," she said. "We're going to take a good look at this section of the code and see if there is any amendment that might be considered." |
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| #7 I wonder if the sentences were some kind of payoff by the Bush administration, to Vinnie "The Weasel" Fox, at the time, president of Los Mexicanos, in exchange for the return of the scumbag who murdered CHP officer David March? I'd hate to think so. Cuz if it were the case, even having voted for Bush twice, I'd start to think about impeachment. There is something that smells like the most colossal skunk of all time here... |
| Posted by: Tell D Truth 2007-07-18 18:54 |
| #6 We're supposedly fighting a war on drugs. If this foreign national was crossing our border with 743 pounds of dope, he deserved shooting. I suspect if this had been on Mexico's southern end, his body would be moldering in an jungle thicket someplace. The Federales don't screw around with illegal immigrants; they often shoot them. Maybe that's why Mexico has a lot less problem with them. |
| Posted by: Mac 2007-07-18 18:23 |
| #5 I disagree, Doc. That would be if they did all that to a law-abiding citizen. However, this guy was nowhere near that status AND he was shot in the butt, for Pete's sake...hardly a life-threatening wound. Yeah, a slap on the wrist for the (supposed) cover-up/crime scene thingy, but shooting at an (intruder, by the way) illegal alien carrying 700+ pounds of drugs? No way! Compare this with the Colorado State Patrol officer who off'd the yahoo in front of the Governor's pad earlier this week. Latest report is that he fired 2 shots to the chest and 1 to the head! Yet, no "reprimands" (at least, not yet) for him! |
| Posted by: BA 2007-07-18 13:20 |
| #4 Before we get too crazy, what are the facts? If indeed the BP agents destroyed the crime scene, covered up the shooting and shot an unarmed man, than frankly, 12 years is too LIGHT a sentence. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2007-07-18 12:21 |
| #3 Bush sent Sutton there to railroad the border guards. Bush needs a brain flush. He woke up one morning believing he was a Mexican and he's been fighting extradiction ever since. Would Bush be the first president to go bonkers while in office ? |
| Posted by: wxjames 2007-07-18 11:09 |
| #2 This Yoob was appointed by Bush! Sounds like he needs to fire ONE mor AG. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2007-07-18 10:19 |
| #1 "I do not take lightly the decision to prosecute a law-enforcement officer for using his gun," Sutton said. I saw this yahoo last night on Fox trying to justify this prosecution, and he's pretty young. But, I'm still gonna go out on a limb and guess he was a Clinton appointee. And, even though I know they're grandstanding, you've gotta (almost) admire Feinstein for this. Of course, I'm sure if the public backlash of the Amnesty bill weren't still fresh on their minds, this Committee hearing would've NEVER taken place. |
| Posted by: BA 2007-07-18 09:47 |