This is fantastic news, although I would have liked to have seen a pardon for these guys instead of just commuting the sentences. I am sure the families are happy, and this was still pretty cool. –Matt
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Bush Commutes Prison Sentences of 2 Ex-Border Agents
By Roger Runningen and James Rowley
Jan. 19 (Bloomberg) — President George W. Bush, on the eve of leaving office, commuted the sentences of two former agents of the U.S. Border Patrol who were convicted of shooting an unarmed Mexican drug smuggler as he attempted to flee.
Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean were sentenced last November. Compean was given a 12-year term on charges including assault with a dangerous weapon and aiding and abetting a crime; Ramos was given a term of 11 years and one day on similar charges. The commutation reduces their prison terms to time- served as of March 20.
Their case became part of the debate over illegal immigration and attempts to rewrite U.S. immigration law.
They were convicted of assaulting an unarmed Mexican national, Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila, who was shot in the buttocks in 2005 as he attempted to flee back to Mexico after being stopped inside the U.S. border with a van loaded with marijuana, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
In a Sept. 11, 2008 statement about the case, U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton said the two agents “shot 15 times at an unarmed man who was running away and posed no threat.” The agents “lied about what happened, covered up the shooting and then proceeded to write up and file a false report,” he said.
Aldrete-Davila was sentenced to nine years and five months in prison for conspiracy to import more than 100 kilograms of marijuana and related charges.