We Won’t Forgot the Persecuted Border Control Agents

I have written several times about the Border Patrol Agents, Campean and Ramos, who were convicted and sent to prison for 11-12 years for shooting and wounding slightly a Mexican drug smuggler caught crossing the border. The case has always smelled to high heaven, and now an official complaint has been lodged against the federal attorney who prosecuted the case. Many observers have concluded that these agents were railroaded to placate the Mexican government who object to any rough handling of criminals who cross our border no matter how despicable are the crimes they carry out on U.S. citizens.

Ethics Complaint Filed Against Johnny Sutton

Contact: Don Swarthout, President, Christians Reviving America's Values (CRAVE), 859-219-1222, 859-619-2811 cell

WASHINGTON, May 12 /Christian Newswire/--Don Swarthout, President of Christians Reviving America's Values (CRAVE) has filed an ethics complaint with the Texas Bar Association against Prosecutor Johnny Sutton. In this complaint Swarthout charges Sutton's office willfully misled the jury in order to convict Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean for simply doing their jobs.

Swarthout has asked the Texas Bar Association to investigate Johnny Sutton for actions strikingly similar to Prosecutor Mike Nifong's mishandling of the Duke lacrosse rape case. The evidence suggests Johnny Sutton is just as guilty as Mike Nifong of unethical prosecutorial behavior.

Swarthout said, "This whole case stinks to the highest parts of heaven. How is it possible in America to convict two Border Agents for simply doing their jobs and send them to prison for 11 and 12 years? How is it possible for Johnny Sutton's office to ruin the lives of two of our Border Agents based on the word of a known Mexican drug smuggler? Why did Johnny Sutton's office twist the facts of this case and hide evidence simply to get a conviction?"

More than 90 U.S. Senators and Congressmen have reviewed this case and have asked President Bush to pardon Border Agents Ramos and Compean. These 90 elected officials represent both Democrats and Republicans. All of them agree Johnny Sutton's prosecution leaves a lot of unanswered questions.

Known drug smuggler Aldrete Davila was portrayed by Sutton as almost an "innocent bystander." In fact, he was involved in a second drug delivery to the United States during Sutton's prosecution of Ramos and Compean. This fact was covered up by Sutton's office.

It may be possible for reasonable people to disagree about whether Sutton's statements constitute "outright lies." However, the facts now in the public domain make it abundantly clear Sutton's statements were willfully misleading to the jury and that is the basis of this ethics complaint.

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Saturday, May 26, 2007
From Sea to Shining Sea

Border Agent Prosecutor Appears On Glen Beck
Johnny Sutton, the U.S. Attorney whose office prosecuted the Border Control Agents Ramos and Compean, the agents who received lengthy prison sentences (11 and 12 years) for firing at and hitting an illegal-alien, drug smuggler, appeared on the Glen Beck show the other night to discuss this case.

I had previously heard Sutton in an interview with Bill O’Reilly discuss this case, and I was very disturbed at that time with the impression he made. His answers and demeanor indicated that a government cover-up of a mishandled case was in progress. I have posted articles about this case before, taking the position that these agents should not have been prosecuted, but should have been disciplined for improper, after-the-fact reporting procedures.

After this latest appearance, I am more convinced than ever that a gross injustice has been done to these men (they have been beaten up in prison). What appears more likely than a collusive effort with the government of Mexico to prosecute any agent who fires at an illegal (this Mexican is a major drug smuggler who was subsequently caught again in the act), as has been suggested in many quarters, is that Sutton was just angered that Ramos and Campean’s actions after the fact have jeopardized other cases Sutton was working on, and he went after them to teach them a lesson.

If you have been following this case, Ramos and Campean “may” not have followed procedures in filing their after-action report. All the evidence against them for the shooting itself was provided by the drug smuggler himself, who was granted immunity.

This case continues to cry out for a presidential pardon, and Sutton is making himself look more and more foolish and vindictive by appearing on TV to smear the agents.