Ramos and Compean have been serving 11- and 12-year sentences for allegedly shooting a drug smuggler in the buttocks who attempted to illegally cross the U.S.-Mexico border back in February 2005, and for failing to report the discharge of their firearms.
President Bush made the decision to extend clemency to the border guards on the basis that their prison sentences were excessively harsh. The former border agents are expected to be released from prison sometime within the next two months.
The U.S. Department of Justice gives the following details.
Jose Alonso Compean - El Paso, Texas
Offense: Assault with a dangerous weapon, and aiding and abetting, 18 USC Section 7, 113 and 2; assault with serious bodily injury, and aiding and abetting, 18 USC Section 7, 113 and 2; discharge of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence, 18 USC Section 924; deprivation of rights under color of law, 18 USC Section 242.
Sentence: Nov. 12, 2008; Western District of Texas; 12 years in prison, three years of supervised release following the prison term, $2,000 fine.
Terms of commutation: Prison sentence to expire on March 20, 2009, leaving intact and in effect the three-year term of supervised release with all its conditions and the fine.
Ignacio Ramos, a/k/a Ignacio Ramos Jr. - El Paso, Texas
Offense: Assault with a dangerous weapon, and aiding and abetting, 18 USC Section 7, 113 and 2; assault with serious bodily injury, and aiding and abetting, 18 USC Section 7, 113 and 2; discharge of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence, 18 USC Section 924; deprivation of rights under color of law, 18 USC Section 242.
Sentence: Nov. 13, 2008; Western District of Texas; 11 years and one day in prison, three years of supervised release following the prison term, $2,000 fine.
Terms of commutation: Prison sentence to expire on March 20, 2009, leaving intact and in effect the three year term of supervised release with all its conditions and the fine.
While in prison at Yazoo Correctional Complex in Mississippi, Ramos was beaten by roughly a half-dozen inmates who recognized him from a TV show. He was pulled from his cell, which remains unlocked until midnight, by the inmates and kicked repeatedly by the men who were wearing steel-toed boots. The boots are issued to inmates for their daily work, according to the prison's Web site.
