July 1, 2008
The malicious prosecution of Ramos and Compean falls under the “If I hadn’t actually seen it, I wouldn’t believe it” heading. It’s a classic example of political prisoners in America, of all places. Pretty scary.
Former Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean went to jail on January 17, 2007 to serve obscenely long 11- and 12-year sentences. The next day, Bush-buddy Johnny Sutton started making the rounds of the news shows to try to hoodwink the public into believing that the agents were the real criminals in the case, while drug-runner Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila was a victim.
Sutton said over and over that he would have “loved to put (Aldrete-Davila) away”, but since Ramos and Compean had broken the law, he had to prosecute them, ’cause, well, no one is above the law (except Mexican drug-runners and certain members of the Bush Administration), and he needed the criminal/victim’s testimony to further his case against the former agents.
What really made me sick was the love fest between Sutton and Bill O’Reilly on the Factor. O’Reilly: “These are bad guys, right?”. Sutton: “Yeah, they’re bad guys”. What crap. Then, after Ramos had the snot beat out of him by inmates in federal prison in Mississippi (it’s pretty clear the inmates are running that place), O’Reilly must have had an attack of conscience, calling out the warden a couple of times to make sure Ramos was protected. Ramos was subsequently moved to another prison.
O’Reilly still hasn’t gotten on the right side of this issue and, well, he’s not gonna, ’cause it’s old news and he’d rather talk about Brittany Spears and out-of-control high school girls. Lou Dobbs and Glenn Beck have been on the right side of the issue all along. Unfortunately the story isn’t fresh, so there hasn’t been much recent follow-up reporting about it on the national news shows.
Members of Congress grilled Sutton, but he adamantly defended his prosecution of the agents even after it was revealed that the DOJ had given Aldrete-Davila carte blanche to cross freely between Mexico and the US. It’s believed that while he was able to come and go, he ran an even larger load of marijuana into the US.
Let me be clear: I’m sure Ramos and Compean did some things wrong when trying to apprehend the drug-runner. Perhaps they did break the law. Maybe they even deserved to lose their jobs and go to jail. But the sentences they received are outrageous. No one was killed, and they prevented a large load of marijuana from reaching US communities. Their jail terms should have been no longer than 6 months.
Sutton acknowledged as much during his PR campaign on one of the news shows, He said “reasonable people could disagree” on the length of the agents’ sentences. He certainly got the attention of some members of Congress.
It’s clear to me that the merciless, heavy-handed prosecution of Ramos and Compean was politically motivated, directed by someone high up in the Bush Administration, perhaps even Bush himself. The message is crystal clear: Hands off illegals, even criminals, or go to jail. The Administration is pursuing the Security and Prosperity Partnership with Mexico and Canada, and obviously does not want to rankle the Mexican government.
Think not? Then maybe you should check with Edwards County Deputy Guillermo Hernandez. Having confronted a vanload of Mexicans in the US illegally, Edwards found himself being pursued by the van as the driver attempted to run him down. Hernandez tried to shoot out the tires, but a ricochet wounded a female in the van. Hernandez went to jail for one year. By the way, the Hernandez case was prosecuted by Johnny Sutton’s office.
The story goes that Aldrete-Davila’s mother complained to someone, presumably a Mexican official, who got in touch with someone in the US government. DHS official Christopher Sanchez traveled to Mexico to retrieve Aldrete-Davila, brought him to the US to get him fixed up, and talked him into testifying against the agents. The rest is history.
No one has addressed the issue of why a Homeland Security official was being so nice to a known drug-runner with no regard for our laws. It appears US taxpayers are working for the benefit of Mexican criminals. I don’t know about you, but I think that sucks.
Ramos and Compean were victims of the federal justice system. When Uncle Sam decides to put the screws to you, you are screwed. The agents’ sentences not only punished them, but ruined their families. It’s just wrong. Such prosecutions are worthy of Communist China or the former Soviet regime, not the United States of America. To pour salt into the wounds of the agents and their families, Bush later pardoned eight convicted drug dealers. Do you feel like laughing or crying?
Sutton should be ashamed, but he’s not. He should testify, but he won’t, because the truth might come out. He’s defiant and he’s safe, for now. He’s a Bush-buddy.
Learn more about Ramos and Compean at grassfire.org and worldnetdaily.com, and prepare to be angered.
UPDATE – August 13, 2008
Wow! Is it my article, or is it that Ramos and Compean don’t have much support among the article’s readers? Anyway, I’m somewhat gratified to have recently learned that one morsel of justice has finally been deliverd in this case: Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila, the lawless Mexican criminal that started this entire mess, has been sentenced to 2 consecutive 57-month terms in federal prison for running his 2 huge loads of pot into our country.
It does kind of gnaw at me that his jail time is less than that of Ramos and Compean, and that he’ll probably be living better in lockup than at home in Mexico.
I guess perhaps my article didn’t fully respond to the question posed by the topic: Should Johnny Sutton be forced to testify? OK, well, yes, of course he should be forced to testify! The thing I don’t understand, however, is this: What means would be used to force him? He’s already ignored at least one Congressional subpoena! So I guess that means they’ll have to send federal marshals to go get him and drag him into Congress in shackles, right?
Well, that would be fine with me. His prosecution of Ramos, Compean, and Edwards County (Texas) deputy Hernandez was clearly politically motivated. That’s not how justice is served in the US. Sutton and his buddy George W. Bush simply ought to be ashamed, but it would be better if they spent the next 9 and a half years sharing a cell with their sweetheart, Aldrete-Davila. And, by the way, they should throw Homeland Security official Christopher Sanchez in there as well. Now THAT would be justice, and to hell with the Mexican government and the North American Union.