butterbean
Joined: 21 Jun 2006
Posts: 2271
|
 Posted: Sat Oct 28, 2006 12:10 pm Post subject: Agency Head Won't Criticize Prosecution of 2 BP Agents |
 |
|
WASHINGTON -- The head of Customs and Border Protection refused to criticize the prosecution of two Border Patrol agents sentenced to federal prison for wounding a Mexican man who later admitted he's a drug smuggler.
Commissioner Ralph Basham said in an interview to be aired Sunday on C-SPAN that the agents, Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean, were convicted by a jury and "I'm not going to criticize that."
Basham, a 35-year veteran of the Secret Service, said integrity is the most important ingredient for law enforcement.
"If the American public doesn't have confidence in America's law enforcement agencies, then we've failed," said Basham, whose agency is part of the Homeland Security Department.
Ramos was sentenced to 11 years and one day, while Compean was ordered to serve 12 years in prison for shooting Osvaldo Aldrete Davila, a Mexican citizen, in the buttocks as he fled across the Rio Grande.
Aldrete later admitted to investigators that he was smuggling drugs. But the prosecutor in the case said there was no evidence to link him to a vanload of marijuana. The prosecutor also said agents didn't report the shooting and tampered with evidence by picking up several spent shell casings.
Several members of Congress have called for a congressional investigation of the prosecutions and support for the agents has swelled largely through conservative talk shows.
continued:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/27/AR2006102701223.html
 It's very sad to know that Homeland Security and the Head of Customs and Border Protection, are on the side of criminals. At least that what it seems. |
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
