Ramos-Compean appeal goes next to Supreme Court

Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, former Border Patrol agents convicted of shooting a drug smuggler and trying to cover it up, were denied a request for a new hearing in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. The same court upheld the men’s convictions in July.

The two former agents are serving sentences of more than 10 years for shooting Osvaldo Aldrete Davila in the buttocks while he was fleeing from an abandoned marijuana load in early 2005. Aldrete Davila was later sentenced to 9 1/2 years in prison for two separate smuggling efforts later that same year.

The National Border Patrol Council supports Agents Ramos and Compean, and is raising money to fund their appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court. "Shooting a drug smuggler who points a weapon at law enforcement officers who are attempting to arrest him is not a crime. Despite what U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton might think, it is illegal for prosecutors to deliberately mislead the judge and jury about the ongoing criminal activities of their star witness," said the Border agents union, which is raising money for a Ramos-Compean appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.