Two U.S. Border Patrol agents were watching the Mexican boundary last year when they stopped a van carrying 743 pounds of marijuana. The driver fled back across the Rio Grande–with a gunshot wound in his buttocks.
Federal prosecutors convinced a jury in March that the agents had shot a defenseless man, then schemed to cover it up. Much of the evidence against them came from the drug runner, Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila, who reported the shooting to a friend at the Border Patrol in Arizona. Aldrete-Davila was given immunity by the U.S. attorney’s office.
The agents–Ignacio “Nacho” Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean–were sentenced Thursday to 11 years and 12 years, respectively, for offenses that included violating the smuggler’s civil rights. They must report to prison in January.
Outraged supporters and anguished family members packed the courtroom, and many wept as the sentences were announced. Outside the courthouse, members of the Minuteman Project, which opposes illegal immigration, carried “Free Nacho” placards.
Anti-immigration activists and advocates of stronger border security argue that the case epitomizes the misplaced priorities of federal prosecutors as well as the absurd predicament of Border Patrol agents, who must fight heavily armed criminals while using little or no force. Among the rules broken by the agents, supporters note, was a policy forbidding agents from giving chase.
But Walter Boyaki, an attorney representing the smuggler, commended prosecutors and said that if the agents hadn’t been punished, it would “put a bulls-eye on every illegal alien.”
The agents were convicted of assault with a dangerous weapon, defacing a crime scene and violating the man’s rights.
Federal prosecutors say the facts–which included evidence that Ramos and Compean did not report the Feb. 17, 2005, shooting near Fabens, southeast of El Paso–warranted a tough prosecution. “Federal agents do not get to shoot unarmed people as they are running away … and then lie,” U.S. Atty. Johnny Sutton said.
Ramos and Compean said that they had gotten into a scuffle with Aldrete-Davila and that he appeared to be holding a gun. Aldrete-Davila said he was unarmed, that he had held up his hands in surrender and fled in fear only after Compean tried to beat him with a shotgun.
As he ran toward the Rio Grande, the Mexican citizen said, he felt a sharp sting and fell to the ground. Ballistics experts matched the bullet extracted from Aldrete-Davila’s buttocks to Ramos’ handgun.
