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What Did Government Promise Drug Smuggler?
WorldNetDaily
A lawsuit has been filed against the United States government by a watchdog group seeking information about what was promised and delivered to a now-confessed drug smuggler that allowed him to travel back and forth between the U.S. and Mexico after two border agents caught him bringing a third of a ton of drugs into the United States.
The case was filed by Judicial Watch, whose chief, Tom Fitton, told WND there are a lot of explanations needed in the case involving smuggler Oswald Aldrete-Davila and now-former U.S. Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean.
It was on Feb. 17, 2005, when the trio first came together. Ramos and Compean pursued Aldrete-Davila on foot after Aldrete-Davila abandoned a van containing 743 pounds of marijuana worth an estimated $1 million.
During the chase, Ramos shot at Aldrete-Davila in the belief that the smuggler had drawn a gun of his own. Aldrete-Davila escaped across the border into Mexico, and Ramos assumed Aldrete-Davila was unhurt. In fact, Aldrete-Davila had been shot in the buttock.
![]() Johnny Sutton |
U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton's office then charged Ramos and Compean with violating Border Patrol policy by pursuing Aldrete-Davila without supervisor approval, moving spent shell casings and improperly reporting the fired shots. Aldrete-Davila was granted immunity to testify against the agents and given permission to be in the United States.
Ramos and Compean currently are in solitary confinement in maximum-security prisons. Their cases are on appeal before the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Now Fitton is seeking government documents explaining what the government gave Aldrete-Davila, what it got in return and other details.
"Here's essentially what we're after in this lawsuit," Fitton said.
- Information pertaining to government deals that were made with the government of Mexico to bring Aldrete-Davila to the U.S. to testify.
- Any internal communications between the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department related to the decision to permit the lawful entry of Aldrete-Davila into the U.S. for medical treatment and for meetings with government prosecutors.
- Any and all records of the Diplomatic Security Services (a branch of the State Department) related to the shooting incident.
"There is enormous public interest in this incident. Many people, myself included, suspect these Border Patrol Agents were railroaded by the government for simply doing their jobs. Given the controversy surrounding the case, the more the American people know, the better," Fitton said.
Aldrete-Davila faces sentencing on Wednesday in Texas for his guilty plea to federal drug smuggling charges. An announcement from Sutton's office about his case confirmed that he "conspired with others to import and to possess with the intent to distribute more than 100 kilograms of marijuana" during the time he was being protected by the U.S. government as a witness against Ramos and Compean.
Aldrete-Davila also admitted, between the time he was granted special protection by the U.S. government and the time the agents ultimately were jailed, he possessed "with the intent to distribute" more than 100 kilograms of marijuana at least two more times.
Fitton said light needs to be shed on the situation.
"What we do know is problematic. I suspect where there's smoke there's fire," he told WND.
"I believe with the fuller understanding of the deal between our government and Mr. Aldrete-Davila, there will be even more consternation," he said.
William Gheen, a spokesman for Americans for Legal Immigration PAC, said, "We're not going to rest until Ramos and Compean have justice."
Fitton said the government is battling against releasing the documents requested.
Judicial Watch earlier filed Freedom of Information Act requests with the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice and the State Department seeking records of communications and actions "by U.S. government personnel with Mexican officials concerning the prosecutions of Ramos and Compean."
Fitton, however, said those requests to date haven't caused the government to provide the information sought. The 2007 requests were followed by their own lawsuit demanding the information, again without results.
Fitton said that, "the more the American people know about what happened, the better."
![]() Former U.S. Border Patrol agent Ignacio Ramos embraced his wife, Monica Ramos, two days before he was sentenced to 11 years in prison (El Paso Times) |
WND reported when the White House said the agents, if they want clemency, must ask for it.
"There is a process under which anyone can apply for a pardon or a commutation. And if they want to take advantage of that process, they're absolutely welcome to," said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino, responding to a question from Les Kinsolving, WND's correspondent at the White House.
"Now that Mr. Aldrete-Davila, the drug smuggler in the Ramos-Compean case, has admitted running drugs and conspiracy, will the president review his decision against a pardon, commutation or other clemency for the two Border Patrol agents jailed for shooting at this drug smuggler as he fled back into Mexico after abandoning a load of drugs in the United States?" Kinsolving asked.
Perino said she would "encourage anyone to look at the facts in the case as laid out by the attorney general – by the county – district attorney – I'm sorry, the U.S. attorney in that area."
Sutton has been described by Bush as a "dear friend."
Aldrete-Davila has admitted possession of a controlled substance, conspiracy to import a controlled substance and conspiracy to distribute. The marijuana he admitted smuggling into the U.S. came after he testified against Ramos and Compean under a grant of immunity from Sutton.
Mychal Massie, the chief of the nonprofit and nonpartisan Project 21 and a columnist for WND, has called on President Bush to pardon the agents.
"It is time to prove that he [Bush] places the welfare of American communities and those men and women who risk their lives to protect them over the welfare of lying illicit drug smugglers," Massie said. "Pardon Ramos and Compean now, Mr. President!"
"It cannot be overstated that President Bush's stolid indifference thus far toward the suffering of these brave protectors of our borders and their families, while simultaneously seeking special dispensation for illegal immigrants, is unconscionable," Massie has said. "Now it appears that the burden to be borne by agents Ramos and Compean for unknowingly wounding a now admitted drug criminal as he fled from justice across the border is going to be greater than that to be borne by the criminal himself."
The Ramos and Compean convictions have been questioned by many who point out that during the trial, jurors were not told of Aldrete-Davila's continued drug trafficking. Jurors also were unaware that a fellow agent who testified against Ramos and Compean is a life-long friend of Aldrete-Davila – a violation of Border Patrol policy in itself.
T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, a labor union, testified before the U.S. Senate that a medical examination of Aldrete-Davila supported the agents' description of events and complied with Border Patrol and Justice Department policies.