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Judge Says Feds ‘Overreacted’
Against Border Patrol Agents-
Demand Pardon NOW!Tuesday, December 04, 2007
By Carmen Mercer
MCDC Vice President
MinutemanHQ
Judge Says Feds ‘Overreacted’ Against Border Patrol Agents -- Click below to send a FedEx to Bush to Pardon Border Agent Heroes NOW:
https://secure.responseenterprises.com/borderpatrol/?a=1146
ALERT: According to a new AP story at FoxNews.com, “Federal prosecutors may have overreacted in their case against two Border Patrol agents who were sentenced to l engthy prison terms after jurors convicted them of shooting a fleeing drug suspect and hiding evidence of the incident, an appeals court judge said Monday.”
Did you read that? Judge E. Grady Jolly, one of three judges from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals hearing the case of Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean, stated from the bench that “this one got out of hand, it seems to me!”
These two innocent Border Patrol agentsare finally getting their day in appeals court, but even with the mountain of evidence that they were wrongfully convicted, President Bush isn’t going to give them the full pardon that they deserve -- unless WE, the people, demand that it happen!
As Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) has noted, “Unjustly convicted Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean are currently serving 11- and 12-year prison terms, respectively, for shooting and wounding an admitted illegal alien drug smugglerwhom they interdicted while he was smuggling $1 million worth of drugs into the United States. Inexplicably, Western district of Texas U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton took the word of the drug smuggler and decided to throw the book at the Border Patrol agents, turning procedural mistakes into felonies.”
President Bush has openly stated to the media that he’s “not going to promise” to issue a pardon for Border Patrol agents Ramos and Compean, who were wrongly convicted simply because they were actually doing their jobs protecting our borders from illegal aliens and drug smugglers.
You know that there is something SERIOUSLY WRONG with our “justice” system when a Mexican drug smuggler is given immunity from prosecution for trying to smuggle drugs the day he was shot -- and is then arrested AGAIN for smuggling MORE drugs just this past month!
Border Patrol agents have a difficult and often dangerous job in guarding our nation's borders. But the danger shouldn't come from our own government!
CLICK HERE TO SEND A PERSONALIZED FEDERAL EXPRESS LETTER TO PRESIDENT BUSH, DEMANDING HE PARDON RAMOS & COMPEAN:
According to news reports, in 2005, agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean spotted Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila, a Mexican national, in his van near the Rio Grande, near Fabens, Texas, about 30 miles southeast of El Paso. Ramos gave chase while Compean circled around to head off the suspect. When Mr. Aldrete-Davila jumped out of the van and ran south to the river, he was confronted by Compean, who was thrown to the ground as the two men fought. Ramos said that when he arrived, he saw Compean on the ground and chased Mr. Aldrete-Davila to the river, where the suspect suddenly turned toward him, pointing what looked like a gun.
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. Nearly 800 pounds of marijuana, worth $1 million, was found in the van that he abandoned at the river's edge.
A job well done, right? After all, that's what the Border Patrol is supposed to do -- try and stop illegal immigrants, especially the "baddies" running drugs. Right?
Wrong.
An investigator from the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General, which oversees the Border Patrol, tracked down Mr. Aldrete-Davila in Mexico, where he was offered IMMUNITY in exchange for testifying AGAINST the agents!
As a result, a federal jury convicted agents Ramos and Compean 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. After a two-week trial last year, the two were convicted by a jury on 11 out of 12 counts; they began their sentences of 11 and 12 years' imprisonment, respectively, in January. (Three of the jurors said afterwards they were inclined to deliver a not guilty verdict but had been told by the jury foreman that the judge wanted them to "go along with majority.")
To add insult to injury -- OUR injury -- Aldrete-Davila, the illegal alien drug-runner, also received care at William Beaumont Army Medical Center in El Paso. Last month, he was arrested AGAIN for smuggling drugs into the country -- but that hasn’t stopped him from suing the government for $5 million for violating his "civil rights"!
THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS. As patriotic Americans, we MUST do something about this!
CLICK HERE TO SEND A PERSONALIZED FEDERAL EXPRESS LETTER TO PRESIDENT BUSH, DEMANDING HE PARDON RAMOS & COMPEAN:
TAKE ACTION: Last month, President Bush issued a presidential pardon for two turkeys, named “May” and “Flower.” As part of the traditional yearly ceremony of “pardoning the Thanksgiving turkeys,” these two birds were granted reprieves, and pardoned for their innocence.
But for agents Ramos and Compean, that’s not going to happen -- unless WE, the people, demand that it happen!
The facts in this case do NOT add up or justify the length of the sentences for these agents, let alone their conviction on multiple counts. The arrest, trial and conviction of the two Border Patrol agents had resulted in a chilling effect on others.
These men have been given the equivalent of a murder sentence -- in fact, they were given MORE time than the average convicted murderer. Even if you accept every fact exactly as stated by the prosecuting attorney, the verdict handed out was an extremeinjustice.
The questions surrounding this outrageous prosecution are many and the answers from the Bush Administration are few. For more than a year, members of Congress have repeatedly called on the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security to review the troubling aspects of this case -- only to have our concerns dismissed with simple form letters. Congressmen have publicly pleaded with the President to pardon the agents, and his only response has been to reaffirm his relationship with his “dear friend” Johnny Sutton.
On October 17, 53 Members of Congress sent a letter to President Bush’s nominee to be attorney general, Michael Mukasey, reiterating their desire for a fair and unbiased review of the Ramos and Compean prosecution. Given the close personal relationships among the prosecuting U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton, former Atty. Gen. Alberto Gonzales and President Bush, past requests for such a review have been ignored.
A growing number of Congressmen AND U.S. citizens are asking President Bush to issue a presidential pardon to the two U.S. Border Patrol agents who shot and wounded the fleeing drug suspect. But it won't happen without a HUGE public outcry -- and that's where YOU AND I come in.
President Bush needs to do the right thing, and issue pardons for Agents Ramos and Compean. Click Here NOW to send a personalized Federal Express letter to President Bush, demanding he pardon Ramos & Compean:
Sincerely,
Thank you.
Carmen Mercer
MCDC Vice President
Director, Minuteman Border FenceP.S.: As usual, you can also send a FREE message directly to President Bush at http://capwiz.com/sicminc/issues/alert/?alertid=9353311 asking him to grant an immediate presidential pardon for these two heroes.
As Rep. Rohrabacher stated, “The implications of this case reach far beyond Ramos and Compean. Protecting our borders is one of the most difficult and dangerous law enforcement jobs, and the threat of becoming the collateral damage of a failed immigration policy has had a terribly demoralizing effect on our men and women on the frontlines. They are risking their lives every day, outnumbered and outgunned, to protect the American people, while this President stands by idly, knowing that agents Ramos and Compean are languishing in prison for doing their jobs.”
Aren’t our heroes on the border worth MORE than turkeys? It’s time for President Bush to act now and right this travesty of justice. He needs to pardon Border Patrol Agents Ramos and Compean, immediately.
CLICK HERE TO SEND A PERSONALIZED FEDERAL EXPRESS LETTER TO PRESIDENT BUSH, DEMANDING HE PARDON RAMOS & COMPEAN:
This outrageous prosecution and sentencing does 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. It puts the rights of illegal smugglers ahead of our homeland security and undermines the critical mission of better enforcing immigration laws. These two agents should NOT be made scapegoats for our government's enforcement failures. Be sure to send this Alert to EVERYONE you know who wants to demand REAL JUSTICE for these two heroic border patrol agents. Thank You!
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