Border Patrol Agents

I wanted to let you know what this town has done lately. The link is here http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_10027171 if you want to read further.

Appeals court upholds prison for ex-agents
By Daniel Borunda / El Paso Times
Article Launched: 07/29/2008 12:00:00 AM MDT
Forum discussion: Comment on this story EL PASO -- The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday upheld mandatory 10-year prison sentences for former El Paso Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean, convicted of civil-rights violations in 2006 after shooting an admitted drug smuggler and then covering it up.
The decision by a three-judge panel renewed calls by some members of Congress for President Bush to commute the sentences of the imprisoned agents. -
"It was a shock to us. It's a complete shock," said Ra mos's wife, Monica Ramos, her voice cracking with emotion hours after the
Imprisoned border agents
Do you agree with the decision to uphold the convictions of border patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean?
Yes
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decision was announced. After a hearing in December in New Orleans, supporters of the ex-agents had felt that an appeals decision would go their way.
But the court upheld all convictions, except for charges of tampering with an official proceeding because the Border Patrol investigation did not meet statutes.
"Our fight continues. My concern right now is keeping my husband safe where he is at (in prison). He is in segregation and it is tough," Monica Ramos said. She said she was not sure about their next legal move.
Ramos was sentenced to 11 years and Compean 12 years, mainly due to a mandatory minimum 10-year sentence on the federal charge of discharge of a firearm in commission of crime. The law does not exclude law enforcement officers. "The court has validated what this office has said all along -- this prosecution was about the rule of law, plain and simple," U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton said in a statement.
In February 2005, Osvaldo Aldrete Davila was shot in the buttocks as he ran back to Mexico after abandoning a van filled with marijuana near Fabens. Prosecutors said Aldrete Davila was unarmed. The agents claimed the shooting was in self-defense and it was a mistake to not report it to supervisors.
"The jury was the fact-finder. The jury heard all the evidence. The jury returned the verdict. The jury did not believe the Border Patrol agents. It convicted them," the 45-page appeals court opinion stated.
Aldrete Davila is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 6 after pleading guilty to smuggling more than 100 kilos of marijuan a in the fall of 2005.
Aldrete faces a minimum mandatory sentence of five years and up to 40 years in prison.