Press Releases

5th Circuit Court of Appeals Upholds Agents’ Conviction on 10-Year Gun Charge

Yesterday, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals released its decision in the case of convicted U.S. Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean.  The agents entered federal prison on January 17, 2007, to begin serving sentences of 11 and 12 years respectively for shooting and wounding an illegal alien drug smuggler who brought 743 pounds of marijuana across the U.S. border in 2005.  The agents were convicted of assault, discharge of a weapon in the commission of a crime of violence, deprivation of civil rights and tampering with an official proceeding. 
The Court affirmed all convictions except those for tampering with an official proceeding.
Congressman Walter Jones (R-NC), who has long been an outspoken defender of Agents Ramos and Compean, issued the following statement:

“I am deeply saddened for the agents and their families and extremely disappointed that the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals failed to reverse the agents’ unjust conviction.  It is particularly troubling that the Court upheld the prosecution’s overzealous use of the 18 U.S.C.S. 924(c) gun charge, which makes it a crime to use, carry or possess a firearm during the commission of a violent crime.  This statute, which carries a mandatory sentence of no less than 10 years, was enacted by Congress to discourage criminals from carrying guns.  It was never intended to apply to law enforcement officers who are required to carry firearms on the job.” 

“The Court’s affirmation of the 924 (c) gun charge in this case sets a dangerous precedent of application to law enforcement officers who act within the scope of their official duties, and it indicates the need for Congress to clarify this statute.”

 “This case is not closed.  A conviction secured on the testimony of a known drug smuggler should not stand.  The same drug smuggler who told the Ramos and Compean jury that he did not carry a gun the day of the shooting also told the jury he was just a one-time offender trying to get money to care for his sick mother.  Yet since the agents’ conviction, the drug smuggler’s arrest on subsequent smuggling offenses has proven his testimony unreliable.  Those of us who have long urged a pardon for Ramos and Compean will continue to support them in their future legal appeals, and we will work tirelessly to ensure that this miscarriage of justice is corrected.”