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Immigration See other Immigration Articles Title: Breaking the silence: Convicted border agent tells his story EL PASO, Texas - Border Patrol Agent Ignacio Ramos could hear his heart racing. He could feel the dry, hot dust burning against his skin as he chased a drug trafficker trying to flee back into Mexico. Ramos' fellow agent, Jose Alonso Compean, was lying on the ground behind him, banged up and bloody from a scuffle with the much-bigger smuggler moments earlier. Suddenly the smuggler turned toward the pursuing Ramos, gun in hand. Ramos, his own weapon already drawn, shot at him, though the man was able to flee into the brush and escape the agents. Now, nearly 18 months after that violent encounter, Ramos and Compean are facing 20 years in federal prison for their actions. Why? According to the U.S. attorney who successfully prosecuted the agents, the man they were chasing didn't actually have a gun, shooting him in the back violated his civil rights, the agents didn't know for a fact that he was a drug smuggler, and they broke Border Patrol rules about discharging their weapons and preserving a crime scene. Even more broadly, Assistant U.S. Attorney Debra Kanof said, Ramos and Compean had no business chasing someone in the first place. "It is a violation of Border Patrol regulations to go after someone who is fleeing," she said. "The Border Patrol pursuit policy prohibits the pursuit of someone." Her arguments, along with testimony from other agents on the scene and that of the smuggler himself, swayed a jury. It was a crushing blow to Compean and Ramos, both of whom had pursued suspects along the border as a regular part of their job. It also appears to fly in the face of the Border Patrol's own edicts, which include "detouring illegal entries through improved enforcement" and "apprehending and detouring smugglers of humans, drugs and other contraband." The smuggler was given full immunity to testify against the agents and complete medical care at William Beaumont Army Medical Center, in El Paso. Neither Ramos nor Compean had granted an interview in the almost 18 months since the shooting. Compean's attorneys have told him to not speak to anyone about the case. But Ramos and his family say they no longer can be silent. "They don't throw this many charges at guys they've caught with over 2,000 pounds of marijuana," Ramos said. "There's murderers and child rapists that are looking at less time than me. "I am not guilty. I did not do what they're accusing me of." SPEAKING OUT Ramos, 37, and Compean, 28, are set to be sentenced Aug. 22 for shooting Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila, a Mexican citizen, on Feb. 17, 2005, in the small Texas town of Fabens, about 40 miles south east of El Paso. A Texas jury convicted the pair 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. The jury acquitted both men of assault with intent to commit murder. But the conviction for discharge of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence requires a minimum 10-year prison sentence. The sentences for the other convictions vary. On July 25, the El Paso U.S. Probation Office recommended to Judge Kathleen Cardone that each man get 20 years. Ramos, an eight-year veteran of the U.S. Naval Reserve and a former nominee for Border Patrol Agent of the Year, now has but one thing on his mind: What will happen to his wife and three young sons if he spends the next two decades in prison? "It's (with) a leap of faith and my devotion to God that me and my family will make it through this," Ramos said as he looked at his wife, Monica, during an exclusive interview with the Daily Bulletin this past month in El Paso. Two things were clear throughout the interview: Ramos is convinced he was simply doing his job when Aldrete-Davila was shot, and he is perplexed as to why he and his partner are being punished so severely. IGNACIO'S STORY Here's Ramos' version of what happened that day: On Feb. 17, 2005, Compean was monitoring the south side of a levee road near the Rio Grande on the U.S.-Mexico border in Fabens when he spotted a suspicious van driving down the north end of the road. He called for backup. Ramos headed to Fabens, where he thought he could intercept the van at one of only two roads leading in and out of the small town. Another agent was already following the van -- with Aldrete-Davila at the wheel -- when Ramos arrived. Ramos and the other agent followed the van through the center of town until it turned back toward the Rio Grande, which marks the border between Mexico and the United States. Aldrete-Davila, unable to outrun the agents, stopped his van on a levee, got out and started running. Compean was waiting for him on the other side of the levee. "We both yelled out for him to stop, but he wouldn't stop, and he just kept running," Ramos said. Aldrete-Davila made his way through a canal, and Ramos could hear Compean yelling for Aldrete-Davila to stop, he said. "At some point during the time where I'm crossing the canal, I hear shots being fired," Ramos said. "Later, I see Compean on the ground, but I keep running after the smuggler." Through the thick dust, Ramos watched as Aldrete-Davila turned toward him, pointing what appeared to be a gun. "I shot," he said. "But I didn't think he was hit, because he kept running into the brush and then disappeared into it. Later, we all watched as he jumped into a van waiting for him. He seemed fine. It didn't look like he had been hit at all." Seven other agents were on the scene by that time. Compean had already picked up his shell casings. Ramos did not, though he failed to report the shooting. "The supervisors knew that shots were fired," Ramos said. "Since nobody was injured or hurt, we didn't file the report. That's the only thing I would've done different." The van later was found to have about 800 pounds of marijuana inside. A DIFFERENT TAKE The version of events presented by the U.S. Attorney's Office during the agents' trial differed markedly from Ramos'. "The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled it is a violation of someone's Fourth Amendment rights to shoot them in the back while fleeing if you don't know who they are and/or if you don't know they have a weapon," said Kanof, the assistant U.S. attorney. Ramos testified during the trial that he saw Aldrete-Davila with something "shiny" in his hand, she said, and though Ramos told the Daily Bulletin he thought it was a gun, he couldn't be sure, she said. Moreover, the agents "did not know who this individual was or what he had in the van," Kanof said. "They just decided or guessed." She then reiterated her contention that pursuing Aldrete-Davila or anyone else fleeing border agents is not part of the Border Patrol's job. "Agents are not allowed to pursue. In order to exceed the speed limit, you have to get supervisor approval, and they did not," she said. The prosecutor also said the men destroyed the crime scene when Compean picked up his shell casings and attempted to cover up their actions by not reporting they'd fired their weapons. PUZZLING ARGUMENT Ramos said his pursuit of Aldrete-Davila was nothing different from what he's done in the past 10 years as a Border Patrol agent. "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?" he continued. "Everybody who's breaking the law flees from us. What are we supposed to do? Do they want us to catch them or not?" Ramos also said that both supervisors who were at the scene knew shots had been fired but did not file reports. "You need to tell a supervisor because you can't assume that a supervisor knows about it," Kanof countered. "You have to report any discharge of a firearm." Mary Stillinger, Ramos' attorney, and Maria Ramirez, Compean's attorney, said during the trial that every other Border Patrol agent at the scene also failed to report shots had been fired. "Every single witness has a reason to lie," Ramirez said, referring to the immunity granted to Aldrete-Davila and the other agents in exchange for testifying against Ramos and Compean. According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Table of Offenses and Penalties, failure to report that a weapon has been fired in the line of duty is punishable by a five-day suspension. Ramos also is puzzled as to why, more than two weeks after the shooting, a Department of Homeland Security investigator -- acting on a tip from a Border Patrol agent in Arizona -- tracked down Aldrete-Davila in Mexico, offering him immunity if he testified against the agents who shot at him. Why the agent tipped Homeland Security to the smuggler's whereabouts is partly explained in a confidential Homeland Security memo obtained by the Daily Bulletin. Why the department and the U.S. Attorney's Office in El Paso pursued the matter so aggressively is less clear. "Osbaldo (Aldrete-Davila) had told (Border Patrol agent) Rene Sanchez that his friends had told him they should put together a hunting party and go shoot some BP agents in revenge for them shooting Osbaldo," reads a memo written by Christopher Sanchez, an investigator with the department's Office of Inspector General. "Osbaldo advised Rene Sanchez that he told his friends he was not interested in going after the BP agents and getting in more trouble." Neither Rene Sanchez nor Christopher Sanchez could be reached for comment. Mike Friels, a spokesman for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection branch of the Department of Homeland Security, said he could not comment on the case, citing pending litigation. BEHIND THE SCENES In the same Homeland Security memo, Christopher Sanchez outlines how the investigation into Ramos and Compean was initiated. On March 10, 2005, Christopher Sanchez received a telephone call from Border Patrol agent Rene Sanchez of Wilcox, Ariz., who told the agent about Aldrete-Davila's encounter with Ramos and Compean. According to the document, Rene Sanchez stated "that Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila's mother, Marcadia Aldrete-Davila, contacted Rene Sanchez's mother-in-law, Gregoria Toquinto, and advised her about the BP agents shooting Aldrete-Davila. Toquinto told her son-in-law, Rene Sanchez, of the incident, and he spoke to Osbaldo via a telephone call." During the trial, the connection between Rene Sanchez and Aldrete-Davila confused the Ramos family, and "we questioned how an agent from Arizona would know or want to defend a drug smuggler from Mexico," said Monica Ramos. Kanof bristled when asked about the Rene Sanchez/Aldrete-Davila connection. "It's an unconscionable accusation that Sanchez is associated with a drug dealer," she said. "Most BP agents who are Hispanic have family from Mexico. He was born in the U.S. and raised in Mexico and came back to do high school and later became an agent." The Ramoses also contend Aldrete-Davila's story changed several times. According to the memo, Aldrete-Davila told investigators the agents shot him in the buttocks when he was trying to enter the country illegally from Mexico. But according to Aldrete-Davila's later testimony and that of the agents, he was shot after trying to evade the agents upon his re-entry into Mexico. The memo never was disclosed to the jury. Aldrete-Davila is suing the Border Patrol for $5 million for violating his civil rights. MISSING HISTORY As a Border Patrol agent, Ramos has been involved in the capture of nearly 100 drug smugglers and the seizure of untold thousands of pounds of narcotics. He also was nominated for Border Patrol Agent of the Year in March 2005, though the nomination was withdrawn after details of the Aldrete-Davila incident came out. Ramos also had drug interdiction training from the Drug Enforcement Agency and qualified as a Task Force Officer with the Border Patrol. But Ramos' training in narcotics -- as well as the numerous credentials he had received for taking Border Patrol field training classes -- was not admissible during the trial, he said. "My husband is a good man, a loving father, and his devotion to his country and his job is undeniable," Monica Ramos said. "Prosecutors treated the drug smuggler like an innocent victim, refusing to allow testimony that would have helped my husband. The smuggler was given immunity. My husband is facing a life in prison. "It's so frightening, it doesn't seem real." The El Paso Sheriff's Department has met with the Ramos family to discuss continued threats against them from people they believe to be associated with Aldrete-Davila. The sheriff's department also has increased patrols around the family's home. The only other organization that has responded to the Ramoses thus far, Monica Ramos said, is the Chino-based nonprofit group Friends of the Border Patrol, chaired by Andy Ramirez. "This is the greatest miscarriage of justice I have ever seen," Ramirez said. "This drug smuggler has fully contributed to the destruction of two brave agents and their families and has sent a very loud message to the other Border Patrol agents: If you confront a smuggler, this is what will happen to you." TJ Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, the union representing border agents, said the Border Patrol's official pursuit policy handcuffs agents in the field. He also sees the prosecution of Ramos and Compean as part of a larger effort by the federal government. "The pursuit policy has negatively affected the Border Patrol's mission as well as public safety. Part of that mission is to stop terrorists and drug smugglers," Bonner said. "They could be smuggling Osama bin Laden, drugs, illegal aliens, or it could have been just some drunk teenager out on a joyride. You don't know until you stop them." "The administration is trying to intimidate front-line agents from doing their job," he added. "If they can't do it administratively, they'll do it with trumped-up criminal charges. "Moreover, the specter of improprieties in the prosecution of this case raises serious concerns that demand an immediate, thorough and impartial investigation." COUNTING THE DAYS About a week ago, feeling little hope, Joe Loya, Monica Ramos' father, took the family on what will be Ignacio Ramos' last fishing trip with his sons before he is sentenced. "What kind of justice is this?" Loya asked. "What kind of nation do we live in when the word of a smuggler means more than the word of a just man?" Monica Ramos says her hardest day is yet to come -- the day the authorities take her husband away. "We just guard (our children's) hearts right now," Monica Ramos said. "I think about the last time he'll hug them as children, and maybe not get the chance to hug them again until they are grown men." The sons are between 6 and 13 years old. Ignacio Ramos was, if anything, even more emotional. "Less than a month left with my family," he said, his voice choking, as though the air had been pulled from his lungs. "My sons," he whispered. Then silence. It took several minutes for Ramos to summon more words. "All I think about at night is the day I have to leave my family. I can't sleep. I've always been with them." Then he talked about the memories he would never have, "their first dates, high school graduation, sports," and the tears falling from his eyes were mirrored only by those of his wife, who took his hand into hers.
Poster Comment: Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 22.
#5. To: innieway (#0)
The jury was probably made up of illegals. Left to me; this agent would get a medal and a generous promotion.
Probably. You'd think it almost would HAD to have been. After all, apparently illegals have all the same rights in America as legal citizens, why not be eligible for jury duty? Me too... Plus I would have recommended the prosecutor be put in front of a grand jury over charges of treason.. And hope the grand jury wasn't made up of illegals too :(
Article Launched: 08/13/2006 12:00:00 AM PDT Petition seeks pardon for agents Sara A. Carter, Staff Writer, San Bernardino Sun A conservative, grass-roots organization has gathered nearly 40,000 signatures since Wednesday on a petition to be sent to President Bush on behalf of two Border Patrol agents convicted of violating a drug smuggler's civil rights. Two of the jurors who convicted the agents also are expressing misgivings about the verdict, saying they were pressured by other jury members and the prosecution to reach a quick decision in the case. Grassfire, a nonprofit organization that uses online petitions to effect legislation, has created a special Web link and letter to President Bush for Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean, who were convicted on numerous counts of violating Mexican national Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila's civil rights during a pursuit on Feb. 17, 2005. Steve Elliott, president of Grassfire, could not be reached Saturday for comment. The petition letter, which is posted on http://www.grassfire.org, is expected to be sent to the president when it reaches 100,000 signatures. "As a citizen of the United States, I am outraged to learn that two U.S. Border agents are facing 20-year prison terms for doing their jobs - pursuing illegal aliens who cross our border - and I'm calling on you to officially pardon them for their actions," the letter states. Thousands of letters have also poured in from across the nation to various support organizations for the Ramos and Compean families. Friends of the Border Patrol, a Chino-based nonprofit organization chaired by Andy Ramirez, is accepting donations for Ramos' defense fund. The National Border Patrol Council also has set up the Border Agents Ramos and Compean Defense Fund. TJ Bonner, president of the union, said the union donated $10,000 to begin the fund. On Friday, two of the 12 jurors who convicted the agents said pressure from the prosecution and possible misconduct involving other jurors may have led to the conviction. In an interview with The Sun's sister paper, the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin of Ontario, a juror who asked to be identified only as Claudia said she was the last holdout on the jury before the guilty verdicts were handed down. "I've had nightmares about the family since the day of the verdict," Claudia said. "I want to do whatever I can to support the families. I'm not at peace." (snip) Claudia and another juror, Bob Grouley, who teaches special-needs students, said the guidelines provided to the jury were at times difficult to understand and that several of the guidelines regarding the convictions were open to interpretation. Both added that several of the jurors, including the foreman, pressured colleagues to go with a guilty verdict because spring break was a week away and they didn't want to be stuck in a long deliberation. Grouley said the foreman told the jurors, several of whom were holding out, that Judge Cardone would not accept a hung jury. The foreman, whose name is being withheld, could not be reached for comment. Grouley said he contacted Mary Stillenger, Ramos' attorney, several weeks after the trial was over to let her know he was not comfortable with the verdict. . . .
This is grounds for a mistrial. And if the prosecutor had communications with the jury he should be indicted as well for tampering.
http://www. friendsoftheborderpatrol.com/501Ramos_Compean.html Help Ramos - Compean Today! You can take action and help Border Patrol Agents Nacho Ramos and Jose Compean in many ways... 1. Participate in the PARDON THE AGENTS CAMPAIGN by contacting President George W. Bush and demand that Ramos and Compean be pardoned, just as he pardoned Vice President Cheney for his "accidental" shooting incident. 2. Write and call your U.S. Senators and Members of Congress and ask for a Congressional Oversight Hearing into this case and demand that DHS and the Border Patrol be overhauled, including stupid policies that favor illegal aliens and drug smugglers by preventing pursuits by Border Patrol agents be outlawed immediately. Such idiotic policies benefit those who seek to do us harm, and are yet another form of the Bush Amnesty. 3. Write Judge Kathleen Cardone and request leniency in her sentencing, while also asking that Agents Ramos and Compean remain out on bond, with their families as they have never been demonstrated to be a flight risk, or threat to society. In fact, it was the smuggler who threatened them, not the other way around. Contact information below... 4. Help support the Agents Ramos, Compean, and their families as they are tapped out financially since they have been on leave without pay since March of 2005 by donating generously to the Ramos Compean Legal Defense Fund, which Friends of the Border Patrol is administering and coordinating on their behalf. Make checks payable to Ramos Compean Legal Defense Fund, and FBP will provide 100% of the proceeds to the agents for legal fees as they are received. In the next few days, FBP will provide a PayPal link for electronic donations. If you make a donation to Friends of the Border Patrol to assist our organization, please make sure to note that in the event you wish to assist our organization, too. This will ensure that all money goes to where it's intended. 5. Contact everyone you know and tell them to help support these brave agents who stopped a drug smuggler, were railroaded by an overzealous prosecutor, and abandoned by the Border Patrol. Keep in mind that all it takes is for Assistant U.S. Attorney Kanof she doesn't like what's said by Lou Dobbs, talkradio, the public, or Friends of the Border Patrol, and she can revoke their bond. Bad enough agents could be fired for telling the truth or doing their job, now they can be sent to prison, while smugglers are given immunity... this is the ultimate gag order. 6. Stay tuned to this website for important announcements, as well as CNN's Lou Dobbs, the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, and talkradio to stay on top of breaking developments in the Ramos-Compean case. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contact Info To donate to the Ramos Compean Legal Defense Fund, make checks payable to: Ramos Compean Legal Defense Fund C/O: Friends of the Border Patrol P.O. Box, 2685 Covina, CA 91722 Write the Judge: Judge Kathleen Cardone U.S. Federal Court House El Paso, TX 79911 You can send letters to FBP, or copies of your letters to FBP and we'll deliver them to the agents and their attorneys. Contact President George W. Bush: The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 Phone Numbers: Comments: 202-456-1111 Switchboard: 202-456-1414 FAX: 202-456-2461 E-mail: president@whitehouse.gov
Don't let this rest folks as this is what they rely on - apathy.
Believe me, I won't. I have sent the petition out to everyone I know and asked them to forward it on to their contacts. Last check, they needed 30,000 more signatures in the next 72 hours.
How did that work out?
#23. To: Rainingfish (#22)
AS of 08/18/2006, there were over 73,000 signatures.
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