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Border Agent Prosecutor Under Fire Over Drug Informer Case Critics of the federal prosecutor who brought the case against two U.S. Border Patrol agents for shooting a Mexican suspected drug smuggler are accusing him of hypocrisy. They point to his involvement in an earlier anti-narcotics operation in which a paid informer allegedly committed murder but was allowed to continue his undercover role. U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton has said that law enforcement officials must be held to the same legal standards as everyone else. At issue is a case that has been dubbed the House of Death, after a house in the Mexican border town of Juarez where the bodies of 13 people allegedly tortured and killed by members of a drug cartel were found. An undercover informant for U.S. law enforcement agencies, Guillermo Ramirez Peyro, infiltrated the cartel and allegedly participated in at least one of the killings. Federal officials knew about his role in the first one, in August 2003, yet Sutton and others allowed him to continue as an informant for nearly six months, during which more murders took place. Ramirez's lawyer said he witnessed two murders and had knowledge of all of them. Federal officials say they did not know of the murders that occurred after the first one....
Cover-Up Alleged After Botched Cross-Border Operation A paid Mexican informer for the U.S. government who worked in an undercover operation targeting a major narcotics cartel allegedly went off the rails and was involved in more than a dozen murders. Amid allegations of a bungled investigation and an accompanying cover-up, at least one member of Congress is calling for hearings into the matter. Guillermo Ramirez Peyro is now fighting an attempt by the U.S. government to deport him and said he fears for his life at the hands of the cartel should he be sent back to Mexico. Statements from key players and documents before court shed light on a drama involving an out-of-control operative, dangerous druglords, crooked Mexican police, and a serious dispute between U.S. government agencies. Relatives of five people allegedly killed by the cartel in the Mexican town of Juarez - directly across the border from El Paso, Texas - have brought a wrongful death suit against the U.S. federal government. Should his appeal against deportation fail, Ramirez's removal from the country would rob the lawsuit's plaintiffs of a key witness. In the view of a retired top Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent, that's exactly what is intended by those who are pushing for the former informer's deportation. "He would be the key witness," ex-agent Sandalio Gonzalez told Cybercast News Service. "What else could it be [but a cover-up]? They have protected him all the way. Now they want to get him killed."....
Records prompt call for new Ramos-Compean trial Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., plans to reveal today Drug Enforcement Agency investigative reports that confirm a previous WND story presenting evidence the drug smuggler given immunity to testify against border agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean was involved in a second smuggling incident. The DEA documents and Department of Homeland Security investigative reports already presented by WND contradict the prosecutor, U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton, who repeatedly has insisted to the public that smuggler Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila was not a suspect under investigation in a second drug incident. Sutton gave Aldrete-Davila immunity to testify as the prosecution's chief witness regarding the Feb. 17, 2005, shooting incident on the Texas border that led to prison sentences for Ramos and Compean of 11 and 12 years respectively. In a statement released by his office, Rohrabacher said, "Upon review of these new documents, it is obvious that U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton knowingly presented a false picture of the drug smuggler in order to justify his ruthless prosecution of Border Patrol agents Ramos and Compean." ....
ICE to train Maricopa deputies to enforce immigration law Federal immigration officials and the Maricopa County Sheriff's office signed an agreement Monday to allow trained deputies to enforce immigration laws. Under the agreement, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials will begin training 160 Maricopa County deputies Tuesday to be authorized to detain and arrest suspected illegal immigrants both in the county jail and on the streets. Deputies will go through a four-week course to learn about nationality and immigration laws in depth. The trained officers will have authority to determine whether someone is an illegal immigrant and will be able to designate that immigration removal proceedings begin. The action is permitted under federal immigration law. "It's the largest agreement of its kind," said ICE spokeswoman Lauren Mack. The agreement that Sheriff Joe Arpaio signed makes Maricopa County's participation the largest one-time addition in the effort....
Investigators say suspected drug smuggler shot first A suspected drug smuggler who was shot and killed by a male Border Patrol agent Tuesday night south of Tubac fired at the agent first, investigators said Wednesday. At about 8 p.m. Tuesday in the Rock Corral Canyon south of the Aliso Springs area, five Border Patrol agents working in a Special Response Team spotted a group of five drug smugglers while doing surveillance in the area, said Lt. Raul Rodriguez, of the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office. One of the drug smugglers spotted a Border Patrol agent and fired at him with a revolver, Rodriguez said. The male agent, whose name is being withheld, fired back, hitting the Mexican drug smuggler multiple times and killing him, he said. No one else, including the agents or smugglers, were injured. The identification and age of the victim hasn't been released. The Mexican Consulate has been notified, Rodriguez said....
Experts at Odds Over FISA Role In Terrorist Surveillance National security experts disagreed Friday over the role of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) in monitoring possible terrorist activities. "Since time immemorial it is not just the power but the obligation of the commander in chief ... to gather any and all military intelligence about the enemy," Todd Gaziano, director of the conservative foundation's Center for Legal and Judicial Studies said during a discussion at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. Gaziano argued that the National Security Agency's secret terrorist surveillance program, which was leaked to the New York Times in December 2005, is a vital information-gathering apparatus and falls within the powers granted to the president by the Constitution and by congressional authorization for use of force in the war on terrorism. The Bush administration in January announced that it was working with the FISA court to bring the program under its jurisdiction - a position the administration had previously opposed, citing its belief that the program was legal without the court's oversight. Mary DeRosa, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said during the discussion that while the 1978 FISA law is outdated, it is important for protecting civil liberties and promoting transparency. She said President Bush's agreement to bring the program under FISA supervision now illustrates that it is possible for the government to conduct its surveillance within the law. "It was at best an inconvenience," DeRosa said of the FISA requirement that the government obtain warrants before wiretapping phones under the program, "but it was not impossible, because if it's possible now it was possible earlier on."....