Pols: Get Border Agents Out of Solitary

Many of you may not know the story of Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean - the two border agents who shot a Mexican drug runner in the buttocks and now are serving 11- and 12-year prison sentences, respectively, for it. In solitary confinement, no less. Their case has had the border agent community, lawmakers, and others up in arms.

Long story short: On Feb. 27, 2005, Ramos and Compean shot at the drug runner after they tried to stop the vehicle he was driving. They say they thought he had a gun and that the vehicle he was driving was carrying drugs across the border into the U.S. It was, in fact - 700 pounds of marijuana. But that's not important here.

The smuggler, Osvaldo Aldrete Davila, tried to flee, they shot at him and a bullet went into his butt and shattered his urethra (wahhh). They were convicted of shooting him and trying to cover it up; federal sentencing guidelines mandates 10-year prison terms just for the shooting. Excessive? Yes. Even the prosecuting attorney has alluded to such in interviews with me in the past, but he claims he was just doing his job. Lawmakers have asked President Bush to pardon the agents but he has refused. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., one of the agents' most vocal supporters, has said Ramos and Compean are worse off in solitary than Al Qaeda suspects are at Gitmo. They are in their cells 23 hours a day, don't get to partake in the same activities as other inmates, such as regular telephone use, daily showers, or TV access.

Ramos and Compean went before the Fifth District Court of Appeals in New Orleans in December and are still awaiting a decision. The three-judge panel, which was quite sympathetic to the agents' cause, was supposed to issue a decision in 70 to 75 days; it's been 124.

"I literally choked up – it was the first time we had an objective, legal mind analyze this case," Tara Setmayer, Rorhabacher's spokeswoman, told Political Machine today of the appeals proceedings. "Even though we were hoping it would come down sooner, I think it's a good sign, it's positive."
Setmayer thinks the appeals court could remand the case back to trial. If that happens, defense lawyers will be able to question Davila about a second load of drugs he brought into the U.S. while under the protection of this country. Click here to read more on that. He was given immunity for his testimony against the U.S. agents. Yes, you heard right. The U.S. government arrested Davila last November - two years after he brought in that second load of drugs. I have copies of the Drug Enforcement Agency documents detailing that so-called "October load." There's little doubt Davila - described in those papers as a "Mexican male ... and has a colostomy bag" - is the suspect dropping off another 752.8 pounds of pot.

Rohrabacher and Rep. Bill Delahunt, D-Mass., sponsored a House resolution to have the agents' sentences commuted. It now as the support of a bunch of Democrats. "That's pretty significant because we had no Democrats a year ago," Setmayer said today. "It does show there has been a groundswell of support coming form the Democrats' side, which lends to the credibility that this isn't a partisan case."

Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., another lawmaker who has taken an avid interest in the agents' case, spoke with Bureau of Prisons Director Harley Lappin yesterday morning. Hunter and Rohrabacher want Ramos and Compean - who are at two separate prisons in Arizona and Ohio - out of solitary confinement. The BOP says they're in there for their own safety.

"After enduring 14 months of the harsh conditions of solitary confinement, Mr. Lappin should do the right thing and exercise his authority to move the agents into more human conditions," Rohrabacher said. Added Hunter: "They should be moved to a minimum security facility where they will not be threatened and under such restrictive conditions."

Bush recently pardoned heroine and crack distributors and smugglers, among others, much to the dismay of lawmakers who want Ramos and Compean freed. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., on Wednesday called the recent pardons part of Bush's "March Madness," all part of a "coverup of misconduct."

"Mr. Bush commuted the sentence of yet another drug dealer, but not the agents who were on our front lines of defense against terrorists and coyotes," Tancredo said. "I'm starting to think they would have a better chance of getting the president's attention if they had helped smuggle in the pot."

The Ramos-Compean blog can be found here. Information from the National Border Patrol Council can be found here.

Enraged? Contact your House or Senate representative and urge them to get them involved. Some punishment may have been deserved, but not one more severe than what child rapists, murderers and other scum of the Earth often get.