Believe In America.com

butterbean · Joined: 21 Jun 2006 Posts: 2269

Rumors swirl around key witness in case against border agents.

Federal officials say that Osvaldo Aldrete Davila, the Mexican national whose testimony helped convict two U.S. Border Patrol agents of violating Aldrete's civil rights, has not been rearrested for drug smuggling, according to a story in Monday's El Paso Times.

Aldrete, who was shot in the buttocks while running away from a marijuana-laden van near Fabens, Texas, on Feb. 17, 2005, was granted immunity from drug charges when he testified in the trial of agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean.

Ramos and Compean were convicted in a jury trial of violating Aldrete's civil rights and of trying to cover up the incident, the Times reported.

But in the run-up to the agents' controversial sentencing last month, their supporters and anti-illegal-immigrant activists have circulated rumors on cable news shows and on Web sites that Aldrete had been arrested for drug smuggling while waiting to testify, according to the Times.

U.S. Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, posted an editorial on his Web site, saying, "While waiting free to testify ... Aldrete Davila was arrested again for drug smuggling and once again (was) given immunity from the prosecutor."

Shana Jones, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in El Paso, said Poe was "misinformed" about a second alleged smuggling attempt.

continued:
http://www.abqjournal.com/abqnews/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1708&Itemid=2