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On November 15, U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton announced the arrest of Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila on drug smuggling charges. Aldrete-Davil was taken into custody at the Ysleta Port of Entry, El Paso, Texas. He was charged with "conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana, and with possession with intent to distribute marijuana in September and October 2005," having been fingered for another drug dropoff of 753 pounds of marijuana. Sutton is the same prosecutor that sent Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean to jail and offered immunity to Aldrete-Davila in exchange for his testimony against the agents.

After appearing in federal court in El Paso on Friday afternoon, Aldrete-Davila now faces two counts of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, one count of conspiracy to import a controlled substance and one count of conspiracy to possess a controlled substance with intent to distribute. The alleged offenses happened between June 1, and November 30, 2005. (Ramos and Compean met up with Aldrete-Davila at the border in February of 2005; at that time he was trying to smuggle $1 million worth of marijuana into the United States at that time.) Aldrete-Davila could be jailed or heavily fined or both for his latest smuggling attempts. Unfortunately, Johnny Sutton will be the prosecutor, which certainly seems like a conflict of interest in this case.

Incredibly, in the press release concerning Aldrete-Davila's arrest, Sutton points to the supposed "crimes" of Ramos and Compean with this statement: "Just as Aldrete's alleged illegal conduct did not excuse the crimes committed by Compean and Ramos, likewise, their crimes will not excuse his." Which is an odd statement to appear in what is usually a facts-only press release. Sutton insists that Compean and Ramos had their day in court and received proper justice under "well-established" laws. And he gleefully pats himself on the back in the press release for working with the Drug Enforcement Administration, as together they compiled "competent and admissible evidence against Aldrete," which he claims they didn't have before — although there's evidence to the contrary. (For in-depth analysis see “Betrayed in the Line of Duty.”)

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), who has been one of the most active defenders of the border agents, called Sutton's "self-congratulatory" statement about the arrests "shameful." He said: "If Mr. Sutton had arrested and prosecuted Davila the first time instead of choosing to falsely portray this smuggler as a victim then 100 kilos of narcotics wouldn't have made it onto American streets and Ramos and Compean would not be languishing in solitary confinement in federal prison." Rohrabacher is renewing the push to free the two maliciously prosecuted border patrol agents, calling for a pardon and asking Attorney General Michael Mukasey and the Senate Judiciary Committee to conduct a full-scale review of the case.

Also weighing in with comments is Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) who said Aldrete-Davila had proven three times he has no credibility and concluded, "Anything short of the maximum sentence for this tree-time, drug smuggling, illegal alien loser — and full pardon for the two agents who were jailed as a result of his bogus testimony — would make a mockery of our justice system."

But most importantly, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) hand-delivered a letter to President Bush seeking a Thanksgiving pardon for the two heroic border patrol agents, stating:

Mr. President, if ever a case merited a Presidential pardon, this is one. The U.S. Attorney did not feel it was necessary to tell the jury that the witness, whose truthfulness he was asserting, was already back in the drug-dealing business. This is a fact that was known to the U.S. Attorney but not communicated to the jury.

Now is the time to strike, so contact your elected representatives and put the pressure on them for a Thanksgiving release of Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean.