Commuted Sentences for US Border Agents!!!

[go-fish]

Bout DAMN time!!!!!   

Compean and Ramos, were convicted of shooting admitted drug smuggler Osvaldo Aldrete Davila in the buttocks as he fled across the Rio Grande, away from an abandoned van load of marijuana. The border agents argued during their trials that they believed the smuggler was armed and that they shot him in self defense.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090119/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_pardons

[heminut]

They should have been pardoned...........actually they never should have been convicted!

[Oldschool]

The conviction is just another example of an upside down world that has been created.  A world where the criminals haver more rights than the good guys.  Great pardon Mr. President........        

[elitecustombody]

I'm glad the guys are out,bet they will never want to have a job anywhere near a border ,what is this world coming to? even if they shot and killed that smuggler,they were doing their job ,now what kind of example does this scenario makes for the guys that patrol the borders right now? let all the drug smugglers thru? it makes no sense, I don't even care for details of the whole mess ,who,how,why they shot that fool, they should never have to suffer when they were doing their job

[71chally416]

They should have just killed them and buried the bodies. 

[MoparMan440]

I was wondering if this was ever going to happen. I read the full story before and I can't believe it ever came to this. Hopefully they can move on with their lives and out this behind them. But I know that's much easier said than done. 

[moparmaniac59]

I am glad JUSTICE was finally served!!!




                                                             Matt B.

[heminut]

If that happened now instead of 4 years ago they might not have even been convicted! Things have gotten a lot worse down here since then. The drug cartels are warring with each other and there are killings all the time in Juarez and Palomas, the town just across the border from where I live. The police chief in Palomas came across a while back and turned himself in to U. S. Customs, seeking asylum. If he hadn't done that they cartels would have killed him. Back in November we had a guy shot in the back of the head and left in the riverbed a couple of miles outside of town (here, NOT across the border) that had screwed one of the cartels over. Ordinarily the cartels don't mess with U.S. law enforcement because they know what kind of problems that would bring, but a friend of mine who is on the drug task force in this area has been put on their hit list because of all the busts he's made on their smugglers! If the Border Patrol incident had happened under the conditions we have on the border now, I seriously doubt that the case would have gone any further than a grand jury investigation, and those guys would still be working!

[lumpy]

I was hoping that Bush would do this, but seriously had my doubts. People that don't live down here have no idea of what happens in the desert at night. There are daily shootouts between the Mexican police and the drug lords in Nogales. The Nogales crossing is one of the heaviest drug smuggling sections of the U.S./Mexico border.

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/ss/related/100512

[cudax34me]

waayyy past due.should have happened long ago or at least been the first two pardons w made.

[71chally416]

Bush just didn't want to hear all the Libs cry about the poor drug dealers and how they were abused.

[heminut]

waayyy past due.should have happened long ago or at least been the first two pardons w made.

Again, let me clarify this, these guys were NOT pardoned! Big difference! A pardon releases the person from all obligations set by the court, prison time, parole time, fines, etc and the charges are removed from their record. These guys had their sentences commuted, which means they get out of prison early. They stiil have to pay fines and spend 3 years supervised release, and are still convicted felons with a record that will follow them the rest of their lives! As I said in my first post, they SHOULD have been pardoned!

[craigsmytcudas]

Im just glad thier out .

[cudax34me]

Again, let me clarify this, these guys were NOT pardoned! Big difference! A pardon releases the person from all obligations set by the court, prison time, parole time, fines, etc and the charges are removed from their record. These guys had their sentences commuted, which means they get out of prison early. They stiil have to pay fines and spend 3 years supervised release, and are still convicted felons with a record that will follow them the rest of their lives! As I said in my first post, they SHOULD have been pardoned!

  thanks for the clarification.

[duodec]

I read elsewhere (a police blog which was sympathetic to the agents) that the wife of one said they did not want a pardon; that would leave a shadow over them of presumed guilt and they want their names cleared.  And reportedly it was pressure from Mexico that drove the initial press for prosecution.  Sadly I think crap like this is even more likely now; the 'open borders lobby' has an even more sympathetic president and more support in congress now than before (and it was too much before).

What I'd like to see is the prosecutor up on charges and facing jail time, or at least censure and penalties.  Didn't happen before, and won't happen under the new administration either.