- U.S. Atty. Sutton/doj photo
By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com
In a carefully worded statement, Texas U.S. Atty. Johnny Sutton Thursday night praised Pres. Bush for cutting two Texas Border Agents’ sentences, but upholding their convictions for shooting and wounding a Mexican drug dealer and covering up the incident.
“Today, the President exercised his power under the Constitution to grant executive clemency to former Border Patrol Agents Jose Compean and Ignacio Ramos,” Sutton said in the statement.
“Like the trial judge and the court that reviewed the cases on appeal, President Bush found that Compean and Ramos were justly convicted of serious crimes and that their status as convicted felons should remain in place.”
After careful thought and deliberation, President Bush has concluded that Compean and Ramos have sufficiently punished, and that the remainder of their terms should be spent on supervised release. I have only the highest respect for the President’s decision to allow their convictions to stand, but to reduce the time they must spend in prison.” The two men were serving a 10-year sentence. They are expected to be released within two months.
