Lucky42 From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Posted (3 years 3 weeks 2 days 4 hours ago) and read 369 times:
I am beside myself. Two border patrol agents were given 11 and 12 yr sentences for shooting a drug smuggler who by the way was given immunity from prosecution. I think every border patrol agent should resign immediately in protest this is absolutely playing into Vincente Fox hands and is PC beyond belief. If I were working in the border patrol I would turn in my badge right now and tell them where to shove it...Assholes.
EL PASO, Texas — Two U.S. Border Patrol agents were watching the Mexican boundary last year when they stopped a van carrying 743 pounds of marijuana. The driver fled back across the Rio Grande — with a gunshot wound in his buttocks.
Federal prosecutors convinced a jury in March that the agents had shot a defenseless man and schemed to cover it up. Much of the evidence against them came from the drug runner, Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila, who reported the shooting to a friend at the Border Patrol in Arizona. Aldrete-Davila was given immunity from prosecution by the U.S. attorney's office.
On Thursday, the agents — Ignacio "Nacho" Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean — were sentenced to 11 years and 12 years, respectively, for offenses that included violating the smuggler's civil rights. Outraged supporters and anguished family members packed the courtroom, and many wept as the sentences were announced.
Outside the courthouse, members of the Minuteman Project, a group that opposes illegal immigration, carried "Free Nacho" placards. "I'm just happy to be going home to my family tonight," Ramos said as he left the courtroom, surrounded by his attorneys and relatives. U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone agreed to let the men remain free until January, when they must report to prison.
The case has become a cause celebre among activists against illegal immigration and advocates of stronger border security, who say it epitomizes misplaced priorities of federal prosecutors as well as the predicament of Border Patrol agents, who must fight heavily armed criminals with little or no force. Among the rules broken by the agents, supporters note, was a policy forbidding agents from chasing suspected drug smugglers without permission from supervisors.
After Ramos and Compean were convicted, members of Congress demanded a review of the case; tens of thousands of people signed a petition supporting the agents and the efforts of the Border Patrol, which is vastly outgunned in its battle against narcotics cartels and human smuggling rings.
ANCFlyer From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 6, posted (3 years 3 weeks 2 days 1 hour ago) and read 307 times:
Quoting AirCop (Reply 5): Federal prosecutors convinced a jury in March that the agents had shot a defenseless man and schemed to cover it up. Much of the evidence against them came from the drug runner, Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila, who reported the shooting to a friend at the Border Patrol in Arizona. Aldrete-Davila was given immunity from prosecution by the U.S. attorney's office.
So, we're now taking the word of a POS drug smuggling assmonkey over the that of Law Enforcement Officers??
The gawddamn country is going to hell, that's for certain.
LTBEWR From United States, joined Jan 2004, 9294 posts, RR: 7 Reply 7, posted (3 years 3 weeks 2 days 1 hour ago) and read 307 times:
The problem was that once the illegal and criminal was back across the Mexican Border, he was under the jurisdiction of the Mexican Government. The Mexican Government does not allow for 'hot pursuit' of criminal suspects as is allowed within the USA if a criminal crosses a municipal, county or state line and the police officers of the original jurisdiction can follow until locals can take control.
I do agree that there should be clarification of such rules in the future. I also suspect that these officer's sentences may be substantially reduced or overturned on appeal. The U.S. Circuit Court that will hear the appeal that includes Texas, where this incident occurred, is a conservative, pro law and order dominated as to it's Judges. I am quite sure the U.S. Supreme Court on certarioi application for appeal would probably be ok with a circuit court decision in favor of the officers not being jailed either.
Sponsor Message: 
From , joined Dec 1969, posts, 
From Canada, joined Apr 2004, 2766 posts, 
From United States, joined Jan 2004, 9294 posts, 
Printer friendly format 
