In his last full day in office, President Bush has commuted the sentences of two Border Patrol agents jailed for the 2005 shooting of an admitted drug smuggler and illegal alien who was fleeing back to Mexico.
Prosecutors said Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean did not report the shooting and removed evidence from the scene when they picked up their shell casings. But their prosecution angered many supporters of tough immigration policies, such as CNN’s Lou Dobbs, who turned their case into a cause celebre and said their sentences were excessive. Ramos was sentenced to 11 years in jail, and Compean recieved 12 years.
