A QUITE STRANGE SEQUEL TO THE BORDER
INCIDENT
Several
subsequent events then unfolded as various US Law Enforcement Agencies entered
the case to investigate and prosecute:
1. On
the day of the chase, 9 other Border Agents, including 2 supervisors, arrived
at the scene, to assist and /or follow up the incident that Agents Ramos and Compean had initiated.
2. About
2 weeks later, an additional BP Agent, Rene Sanchez, stationed in Wilcox, Arizona, entered the picture and proceeded, through
his own initiative, to assemble some information, later brought to the attention of a DHS Agent in the office of the DHS Inspector
General (OIG), named Christopher Sanchez. Chris Sanchez pursued the investigation further, on his own. The work of
R. Sanchez and C. Sanchez strangely focused on the alleged violation of the smuggler’s
rights and malfeasance of the two BP agents R&C. This work eventually lead
to a curious, public DHS SWAT Team arrest and arraignment of Agents R&C. Ironically,
R. Sanchez was brought into the case, not by the Border Patrol or DHS, but by the mother of OA-D, who, from Mexico, called the mother of Agent R. Sanchez and asked for
help for her injured son/smuggler, OA-D. Apparently Sanchez and OA-D had
been boyhood friends in Mexico. [ Interesting that the cross border justice system worked so much more efficiently than our own internal
border machinery.]
3. Assistant
US Attorney Debra Kanof, Chief Prosecutor for Major Crimes, in the Justice
Dept, became involved, as did US Attorney, Johnny Sutton. Sutton charged publicly that Agents R&C had illegally pursued an unarmed Mexican citizen, OA-D,
and fired at him, hitting him in the back. In future months, Sutton charged further that:
a. No evidence existed that OA-D was involved in the smuggling of drugs.
b. Evidence
against Agents R&C was provided by the Mexican suspect, OA-D, who was brought back to the US, under grant of immunity
from prosecution, to testify against Agents R&C.
c. The bullet fragment lodged in Mexican citizen, OA-D, had been tied directly to the gun of Agent Ramos.
d. That
a US
jury had heard all the evidence and unanimously convicted Agents R&C
of illegal conduct
4. On
Oct 17, 2005 a trial of Agents R&C began in the Court of Judge Kathleen Cardone.
12 Jurors unanimously found Agents R&C guilty and Judge Cardone eventually sentenced the Agents to 11-12 years
in prison, with prison time starting in January of 2007.
5. On January 17, 2006, Agent Ramos, in US
jail, was significantly assaulted by 5 other inmates, likely Mexican illegals, being held in the same jail as Ramos.
SUBSEQUENT NON-LAW-ENFORCEMENT INVESTIGATIONS OF THE POSSIBLE INNOCENCE OF AGENTS R&C
Several
independent groups and journalists, mostly supportive of the Border Agents and/or of tightened
control of the US Border generally, became increasingly incensed over the extremely harsh punishment of Border Agents R&C, who in their opinion, were railroaded through the Justice system without adequate
opportunity to present / appeal their
side of the story. These groups, together with the sympathetic reporters, also
brought further information to light, supporting their belief that Justice had
been very ill served in this case. They also were able to convince several members
of Congress that Lady Justice had indeed deserted Ramos & Compean.
Some
of the Further Facts developed by these groups:
1. Agents
Ramos & Compean had been involved in a hundred similar border investigations and arrests with never any adverse charges
of abusing their power against illegal immigrants. Both Agents were Mexican-Americans
and legal US Citizens. Agent Ramos, had been a member of the US
Naval reserve for 8 years.
2. Agent
Ramos had asserted that he had fired his weapon - - after the fleeing suspect had turned toward him several times and he thought he saw a metal object, like a gun, in the suspect’s hand. Moreover, Ramos, in the pursuit, had passed his companion Agent Compean, who had been injured
and was downed on the ground. Ramos also said that prior to his passing Compean, he had heard several gunshots and now believed
he, Ramos, was possibly a target as well.
3. The
bullet fragment, unlike the depiction by Attorney Sutton, had not, in fact, been
identified by forensic experts as uniquely attributed to Agent Ramos’ gun, but rather, in a written report, Texas Criminalist
J.J. Correa, stated the fragment could not be positively traced to Agent Ramos’ gun but only narrowed to multiple gun types produced by several unrelated gun manufacturers, one of which was
the type used by Agent Ramos.
4. That
the medical doctor (Dr. Winston Marne) who removed the bullet from Mexican smuggling
suspect OA-D, had concluded in a written report dated March 16, 2005 that based on bullet entry and exit trajectory, OA-D was not shot in the back, but rather in a position,
where he was turned with his left arm and body twisted in a backwards direction toward Agent Ramos who was pursuing him (ie
consistent with Ramos’ claim of OA-D acting as though he might fire at Ramos).
5. That
further evidence, previously cited by US Attorney Sutton had, in truth, failed to materialize:
a. Sutton’s
office, in Sep 2006, had told several US Congressmen (Ted Poe, John Culberson, Dana Rohrabacher and others), who had become suspicious of the whole case, that Ramos & Compean had made incriminating admissions and signed statements concerning their
own guilt. Sutton’s office promised to provide this evidence, but then failed to do so.
b. A
DHS Report from 2005, was released to Congress on Feb 7, 2007 indicating that
suspect OA-D, when questioned about a metal object in his hands, was asked if it could have been a cell phone. He said, “No”, he’d left his cell phone in his van (ie the 1989 Ford van that was subsequently
found to contain marijuana – the same van that US Atty. Sutton had said could not be linked to the suspected smuggler.)
c. On Feb 8, 2007, 3 DHS investigators, were fired from the DHS for
lying to Congress, under oath, concerning the self-incriminating evidence (confessions)
that they supposedly had from Agents R&C.
Moreover, 3 of the agents had told self-conflicting stories, under oath, after receiving immunity from US Attorney
Sutton, and recanted earlier testimony that had tended to be corroborative of Agents R&C’s version of the original shooting event.
6. As
part of his immunity grant, the smuggling suspect, OA-D was given a U.S.
“Green Card” and a car to travel back and forth to the US from Mexico.
At one point, in October of 2005, OA-D was arrested a second time for smuggling a
new batch of a 1000 lbs of marijuana into the US.
This occurred just prior to the actual
trial of Agents R&C. Attorney Sutton sought and obtained approval to “seal” this information. Accordingly,
this adverse evidence against the primary accuser of Agents R&C, was never
presented to the jury.
7. Agents
R&C were offered plea bargains for much-reduced sentences to only a year or so in jail. These were refused by the Agents,
who felt that their innocence would be proven in fair hearings by the US
Justice system, in which they had (apparently, misplaced) faith.
8. Three
of the original jurors have subsequently provided affidavits indicating their previous GUILTY verdicts were provided only
because they had been told by the jury foreman, that a unanimous verdict was required and they were not legally able to enter
a NOT GUILTY verdict, without subverting the whole trial.
9. Attorneys
for Agents R&C have been trying to mount a motion for re-trial based on much evidence not brought to light during the
original trial. However, the Court records of the original proceeding, normally available shortly after the trial, have never
been released, even as of Feb 10, 2007 some 16 months after the start of that trial. Reasons
given for non-availability of the records relate to lack of a suitable court transcriptionist.
MY OWN PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS
BASED ON THE EVENTS AND FURTHER INFORMATION OF THE PAST SEVERAL MONTHS.
1. There
appears to be a plethora of evidence that a miscarriage of justice, in terms of fairness to Border Agents R&C, is surely possible, if not probable. There appears certainly
to be adequate evidence that a new trial, at a minimum, (or dismissal of all
charges) is warranted. In any event, fairness demands that Agents R&C should
be released pending further review and/or re-prosecution.
2. In his book, “Through the Looking Glass, in 1872, author Lewis
Carrol’s young Alice
(from Wonderland) notes to the White Queen some strange happenings: “One can’t believe impossible things”,
Alice asserts. "I
daresay,” said the Queen, “ you haven't had much practice. When I was your age, I always (practiced) for half-an-hour
a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."
In my view, even the White
Queen would have difficulty swallowing the guilt of Agents Ramos and Compean and
their deserving of 12 years in jail, while drug smuggler OA-D goes free and is now suing the US Gov’t for $5 million
for violating his civil rights.
3. So, in sum – a Mexican national illegally brings banned drugs in a van to the US and flees when intercepted by 2 Border Agents.
The smuggler escapes and is brought back by the US
government to give evidence of malfeasance against the Border Agents. The
Agents are sent to jail, the smuggler goes free and is seeking $5M from US taxpayers for his failed smuggling attempt. A scenario
impossible in the United States of America? Apparently not.
A DEEPER SIGNIFICANCE
One could stand back and view this whole episode as a comedy of errors.
As the stumbling along of our justice system trying to do right by the truth, but failing to get it right.
But there are other plausible explanations:
1. An over-zealous prosecutor seeking personal glory.
2. A total border control system corrupted by Drug money.
3. An over-riding, heavy-handed attempt by the Bush Administration to protect its policy of giving lip service to border
protection, but really giving very little concrete support to stopping illegal entry and thus issuing a not-so-veiled threat
to other Border Agents NOT to be too zealous.
4. Some combination of the above 3 items.
As a Conservative Republican, and generally, a supporter of President Bush, I hate to believe that item 3 played
any role. However, given the Administrations lack of enthusiasm / effectiveness, for
enforcing our Nation’s border integrity, it can’t be dismissed out
of hand.
I think also that I can’t dismiss item 1, with the recent example of Mike Nifong and the Duke lacrosse
team’s incident, fresh in mind. The free use of immunity grants, as used against Agents R&C, seems highly likely
to enable any prosecutor to mold, for any jury, the story he’d like to portray.
I’m not a legal expert, but some better legal counterbalances seem required here.
However, the most profound concern must be item 2: our border system
corrupted beyond the imaginings of most citizens. Some independent reasons for this concern:
1. In a two-part series for All Things Considered, NPR's John Burnett, in Sept, 2002, examined the culture of drug money and corruption along the U.S.-Mexico border. Burnett asserted that the conventional wisdom is that it's the Mexican officials who are corrupt. But some officials believed the culture of drugs and pay-offs had thoroughly permeated
both sides of the international border. The potential for corruption is obvious: along the southwest border, U.S. federal employees guard the gateways into the richest
illegal drug market and the biggest undocumented labor pool in the world. Federal investigators believe that there is a systemic
and ongoing problem of corruption among officers for the three agencies (then) in charge of patrolling the U.S. border with Mexico
-- the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), the Customs Service, and the Border Patrol.
2. Bill Gore, FBI Special Agent
in Charge of the agency's Public Corruption Task Force, said: “The lure
of quick cash is sometimes too hard to resist. Government officials do
not make a lot of money. So you have somebody who’s making $50,000 to $60,000 a year. An
illegal organization comes along and offers him $10,000 to $15,000 for just waving a carload of drugs or aliens through in
the normal course of business. It's a tremendous problem."
3. "You’re God on the line," said Mario Ramirez, an INS inspector who worked on the border crossing at Eagle Pass, Texas for nearly nine years,
and then worked as a special anti-corruption agent. "All you've got to do is
wave somebody through, and nobody’s going to know." The border culture
is also part of the problem. "In America,
it’s a war -- the drug war," Burnett reports. "In Mexico,
it’s a game -- the smuggling game, and one that is played in the open." Burnett reports that drugs are relatively easy
to get in Mexican border cities, but getting it across the border to the United
States is the difficult part. Unless, of course, you have a contact within one of the
U.S. border agencies willing to look the
other way.
Today, the consequences of lax Border Control impacts such diverse US interests as:
1. Homeland Security;
2. Murder of, and infliction of crime against, US citizens by illegal aliens
3. Mandated hospital costs for illegals which has lead to financial dissolution of multiple US health care facilities;
4. A drag on school systems burdened with extra services for illegals;
5. Undercutting of wages for legal US
citizens;
6. and others - -
This ineffective system is a distinct threat to the America
we all know.
So the story of Ramos and Compean, in addition to a cruel injustice to 2 Americans trying to do their job, also
appears to be a story of a cruel, corrupt system trying to undercut America from its promise of morality and the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness for its citizens.
It’s a story that all Americans must understand and pay heed to.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:
the author drew freely from information developed in the following publications:
1. Wry
& Coy Report, http://www.patgray.com/content/view/250/14/, Jan 19, 2007
2. “Witnesses
against Compean, Ramos to be Fired for Changing Testimonies”, WorldNetDaily, Feb 10, 2007
3. “Corruption
at the Gates”, NPR.org, All Things Considered, Sept 12, 13 2002
4. “Drug
smuggler left cell phone in van”, WorldNetDaily, by Jerome Corsi, Feb 10, 2007
5. “More Questions than Answers Concerning the Ramos-Compean Case”, Lighthouse
PatriotJournal, Jan 29, 2007
6. “Border-agent Investigator had tie to Smuggler”, WorldNetDaily,
by Jerome Corsi, Feb 9, 2007
