Home > The Border Line > Archives > 2007 > December > 20 > Entry
Lawmakers ask Bush for Christmastime clemency for Ramos and Compean
A bipartisan group of lawmakers asked President Bush this week to commute the sentences of two former Border Patrol agents serving long sentences for shooting and wounding a Mexican drug dealer and trying to cover it up.
The lawmakers — Reps. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas (pictured), Ted Poe, R-Texas, Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., and William Delahunt, D-Mass. — asked Bush in a letter to act quickly so that the two men could spend Christmas home with their families.
The agents — Jose Alonso Compean and Ignacio Ramos — are serving 12 and 11 years in prison, respectively. Their case has become a cause celebre among conservative websites, talk radio shows and groups that advocate tougher border controls. Supporters say that the agents were wrongly convicted for protecting the United States against criminal intruders.
The White House released a new list of presidential pardons and commutations last week which did not include two former Border Patrol agents.
In the letter, the lawmakers tell the president that the average sentence in cases of manslaughter in 2006 was less than four years and for assault, less than three years.
“Mr. President, in this light, it is clear that the sentences imposed on agents Ramos and Compean are profoundly disproportionate based on the totality of the circumstances and sentencing guidelines. Their sentences were, quite simply, a gross miscarriage of justice,” the letter says.
Adding: “Mr. President, we respectfully request that you correct this injustice. We ask that you immediately commute the sentences of Ramos and Compean to time served so that they can spend Christmas at home with their families.”
Other members of Congress — including Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas — have asked President Bush to pardon the agents or commute their sentences. Last week, a bi-partisan group of lawmakers in the House introduced a resolution asking for the immediate commutation of Compean and Ramos’ sentences.
The prosecutor in the case, U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton of the Western District of Texas, has staunchly defended the case.
Comments
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By RO
December 20, 2007 5:51 PM | Link to this
This is such a sad case of injustice that it not even words to express how so.
There indeed is widespread evil coming out of Mexico through the drug cartels but what is worse is the American businessmen and politicians who are cooperating.
By george
December 21, 2007 5:55 PM | Link to this
I guess if he doesn’t we will know where he stands won’t we?
By bodie
December 22, 2007 6:44 AM | Link to this
Bush has proved over and over again that he is a moron who is incapable of making the right decisions. I understand he prays to God to give him guidance in all his decisions-I wonder what God he’s praying to? Even if they were guilty, that was a probation offense, not 10+ years. We have sex offenders and murderers who get probation on a daily basis, and we throw the book at them? My prayer-Dear God, help us survive the last of the Bush regime, and restore us to sanity after he’s gone. Please don’t allow another imbecile to lead the greatest country on earth and lead us closer to devastation. Oh, and can you help Santa bring me a Wii?
By bst
December 22, 2007 1:18 PM | Link to this
They need to serve their sentences.
By bst
December 22, 2007 1:18 PM | Link to this
They need to serve their sentences.
By bst
December 22, 2007 1:18 PM | Link to this
They need to serve their sentences.
By george
December 22, 2007 4:09 PM | Link to this
There should never have been a sentence. They were hired to protect America. They were just doing their job. It is sad when a known ILLEGAL DRUG DEALER, COYOTE, is given a deal to convict 2 of our own officers who were just trying to stop the crime and catch a criminal who was on the FBI’s most wanted at the time. Sad and sick.
By L1M89
December 30, 2007 12:37 PM | Link to this
[“There should never have been a sentence.”] Well said George, this travesty is a gross example of “a rush to judgment.”
By Joseph G Elicati
January 2, 2008 10:54 AM | Link to this
BST you a complete Moron!! Or do I have to say it in Spanish!
By L1M89
January 2, 2008 1:34 PM | Link to this
[“BST you a complete Moron!!”] Naw, just say it in English. Let Johnny Sutton translate, then prosecute him for his hateful persecution of Compean & Ramos.