Bush commutes sentences of 2 ex-Border Patrol agents
By JAMES PINKERTON and SUSAN CARROLL
Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
Jan. 19, 2009, 8:54PM
On the last full day of his term, President George W. Bush commuted the contentious prison sentences of two former U.S. Border Patrol agents convicted of shooting a fleeing, unarmed drug smuggler near El Paso and covering up the shooting.
The 12-year prison term of Jose Compean and the 11-year sentence of Ignacio Ramos were commuted to time served by Bush on Monday in a move that elated supporters but did not end the fierce debate over the case. The agents had served about two years of their sentences and are now scheduled to be released March 20.
“We’re ecstatic, thrilled for the families and the agents, but we’re troubled by the fact it took so long to do the right thing,” said T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, the union representing most of the 18,000 border agents. Bonner, noting the agents’ convictions are being appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, said the union will push for a congressional investigation of the prosecution.
Compean and Ramos were convicted of shooting drug smuggler Osvaldo Adlrete Davila, an illegal immigrant, in the buttocks as he fled toward the Rio Grande near El Paso in 2005. The agents did not report the shooting to superiors, removed evidence from the scene of the shooting and submitted false reports about the incident, according to court records.
‘Justly convicted’
Their federal prosecution heightened the debate about illegal immigration, became the topic for talk shows and was taken up as a cause celebre by groups favoring limits on immigration.
“We certainly hope this will serve as a catalyst to restore confidence in the justice system by our law enforcement officers,” said Curtis Collier, president of the U.S. Border Watch volunteer group based in Spring. “This will allow them to do their jobs a little better because they won’t be prosecuted for doing ridiculous things, like Ramos and Compean were.”
Maria Jimenez, a Houston immigration activist who has monitored civil rights violations by Border Patrol agents, said cutting the agents’ prison time “sends the signal that law enforcement agents will be treated differently.”
“They received a fair trial, and the jury’s decision should be respected,” Jimenez said. “Ultimately, the type of law enforcement officers we want to have are those who carry on their duties while upholding the Constitution of the United States.”
A senior administration official told The Associated Press that Bush declined to pardon the agents because he believes they received fair trials and their verdicts were just. Instead, he reduced their prison time because he believed the sentences were excessive, the official said.
P.S. Ruckman Jr., a political science professor in Illinois and editor of a blog on pardons called “Pardon Power,” said the commutation of the sentences was not a risky political decision for the president, considering the level of support from lawmakers.
“So many members of Congress supported this, and in that sense, it may have been the safest commutation of a sentence that President Bush could have possibly granted,” he said, adding that a commutation for the former governor of Louisiana, Edwin Edwards, or former Illinois governor George Ryan would have been “a lot more controversial.”
Johnny Sutton, the federal prosecutor for the Western District of Texas who prosecuted the case, issued a statement late Monday saying he respected Bush’s decision.
“Like the trial judge and the court that reviewed the cases on appeal, President Bush found that Compean and Ramos were justly convicted of serious crimes and that their status as convicted felons should remain in place,” Sutton said.
Supporters for the agents, which include many of the Texas congressional delegation, argue that Compean and Ramos confronted an experienced drug trafficker who was likely armed, although no weapons were ever found. The trial court was not allowed to hear evidence that the wounded trafficker, while in the U.S. waiting to testify at the agents’ trial, was arrested for smuggling a large load of marijuana.
‘A long time coming’
U.S. Rep. Ted Poe, R-Houston, a former state district judge, said Congress must exempt law officers such as Compean and Ramos from prosecution under the law that mandates a 10-year sentence for discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.
“As a former prosecutor and judge, I spent most of my career putting people in jail — this is the first time I’m excited someone was released from custody,” Poe said.
Compean’s attorney, Robert T. Baskett, said he spoke with his client about the news, saying it was “a long time coming.”
Joe Loya, Ramos’ father-in-law, said the commutations came as a relief after years of trying to “get the truth out” about Ramos and Compean.
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