Release expected soon, after Bush commutes sentences of former US border agents

WASHINGTON (AP) - Two former U.S. Border Patrol agents are expected to be released from prison within the next two months, now that President Bush has commuted their sentences.

By: Associated Press | WNCT
Published: January 20, 2009

WASHINGTON (AP) - Two former U.S. Border Patrol agents are expected to be released from prison within the next two months, now that President Bush has commuted their sentences.

Their convictions for shooting a Mexican drug dealer in 2005 had sparked fierce debate about illegal immigration.

The father-in-law of one of the men says the fight has taken a toll on the whole family. He says his daughter could hardly speak when she got word that her husband, Ignacio Ramos, would be released from a federal prison outside Phoenix.

Bush's decision to commute the sentences of Ramos and Jose Compean is being welcomed by both Republican and Democratic members of Congress. They said the agents were merely doing their jobs, defending the American border against criminals.

Bush didn't pardon the men for their crimes. But a spokesman says the president commuted their sentences because he believed they were excessive and that they had already suffered the loss of their jobs, freedom and reputations.