WASHINGTON, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., is urging a pardon for two jailed U.S. Border Patrol agents convicted of shooting a drug-smuggling suspect in the buttocks.
"These men, as well as their families, have suffered enough," Duncan said Thursday after the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied a request for a rehearing in an appeal by agents Ignacio Ramos, 37, and Jose Alonso Compean, 28, The Washington Times reported Friday.
The agents were convicted of wounding Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila in February 2005 as he allegedly ran from a truck containing 743 pounds of marijuana near Fabens, Texas, the Times reported.
Thursday's ruling means the agents must serve their sentences unless given a presidential pardon or commutation. Ramos is serving an 11-year sentence and Compean a 12-year sentence.
Prosecutors argued that the agents shot an unarmed and fleeing suspect and then failed to report they had fired their weapons.
