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Friday, April 18, 2008
Cornyn renews call to pardon jailed border agents
Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, this week renewed his call for President Bush to commute the sentences of two former Border Patrol agents convicted of shooting and wounding a drug dealer and trying to cover it up.
The former agents — Jose Alonso Compean and Ignacio Ramos — are serving 12 and 11 years in prison, respectively. Supporters say that the agents were wrongly convicted for protecting the United States against a criminal intruder.
Their case has become a cause celebre on talk radio shows and among groups and lawmakers that advocate tougher border controls.
The drug dealer — Osvaldo Aldrete Davila — pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiracy to import drugs and admitted that he tried to bring large amounts of marijuana into the country in 2005. Davila was in the United States illegally at the time of the shooting and was given immunity to testify against Ramos and Compean.
Cornyn said: “In my view, this guilty plea opens even more questions than it answers. For example, when did the U.S. Attorney’s office first learn that Davila violated the terms of his immunity agreement by engaging in drug smuggling in 2005? Was this purposefully withheld from the jury deliberating the fate of Ramos and Compean?”
In addition, Cornyn said it is “well past time for the president to do the right thing and commute their sentences.”
The U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas, Johnny Sutton, has staunchly defended his case.
Read more here.