Ramos & Compean Are Free Men

EL PASO,TX- Two former Border Patrol agents convicted of shooting a drug smuggler and lying to their supervisors about it are now free.

Friday, for the first time in 25 months, Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean were able to do as they pleased. Asked what he would do on his first day as a free man, Ramos said “get out all day long, not coming home for a while… have lunch with friends… catch a movie.”

The men spent two years in solitary confinement in federal prisons before President Bush commuted their sentences on his last full day in office in January. The commutation means they don’t have to serve the remaining of their sentences; however, they are still convicted felons.

The former agents arrived in El Paso February 17th and spent a month in home confinement.

During their trial, Ramos and Compean argued that they believed the Mexican smuggler was armed, and that they shot him in self-defense, but prosecutors were able to convince a jury the men were guilty of covering up the shooting. In 2007, they were sentenced.

Their conviction was called “an outrageous miscarriage of justice,” sparking a bitter debate nationwide. Several conservative lawmakers supported Compean and Ramos and took up the men’s case, asking Bush for the commutation.

Many people considered their case a part of the national debate over illegal immigration. The man they shot, Osvaldo Aldrete Davila was a Mexican illegal immigrant who was later convicted of drug smuggling. He had been granted illegal immunity in exchange for his testimony in the agents’ trial, but was later caught smuggling drugs and aprehended.

Ramos told CNN he was eager to enjoy his newfound freedom, get out and explore. “I havent seen city for a couple of years,”he said.

By ABC-7’s Brenda De Anda-Swann

The Associated Press contributed to this report.