Border Agents Jailed for Shooting Mexican Drug Dealer Released

The two border agents that have been sitting in solitary confinement for two years after shooting a Mexican drug runner have been finally released from prison.

To many who have followed this story, this is a huge victory - not only for former Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean - but for those like The Minuteman Project and Friends of the Border Patrol, who have argued that agents should not be imprisoned for doing their often dangerous job at the border. They were actually sentenced to 10 years in prison - a mandatory minimum sentence that infuriated many of their defenders.

The two men were in separate federal prisons, but President Bush commuted their sentences on Jan. 19; that takes effect March 20. They were released today to serve out the rest of their sentences in home confinement.

"At last, Ramos and Compean have been rightfully reunited with their families," said Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., one of the most ardent supporters of Compean and Ramos and who had been calling on Bush to pardon them. "This day is long overdue. I wish the Ramos and Compean families the best as they now try to pick up the pieces and begin to heal from this terrible ordeal."

As for the drug runner they shot in the butt - Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila - he pleaded guilty last spring to federal drug smuggling charges. He was trying to bring more than 700 pounds of pot into the U.S. in 2005 when he was shot. Just months later, he tried to bring in another load. He was later sentenced to 114 months (9.5 years) in federal prison - followed by 10 years of supervised release and a $400 fee.