'You can't even go home!' Feds go bonkers on border agent ...
Outrage follows warning that Diaz will be banned from his own home during probation
Posted: December 14, 2011
8:46 pm Eastern
By Bob Unruh
© 2011 WND
 Jesus Diaz Jr. |
The wife of former U.S. Border Patrol agent Jesus Diaz, who was jailed over his treatment of a drug smuggler, says she's outraged that the government has told her husband he won't be allowed to return home to be with her or associate with any other law enforcement-linked member of his family while on probation.
"I have to ask what does the DOJ want me to do? I can't retire, I'm too young. Divorcing him is not an option as he would still have to come around for the children. What is Chito going to do about his brother, not see him for the next five years? He carries a gun," Diana Diaz, said in a statement released today through theLaw Enforcement Officers Advocates Council,which has become an advocate for the officer in issues outside the courtroom.
"When are we going to [be] done feeding the Mexican monster with our agents' lives and those of their families?" she asked. "Is a 15-year-old illegal drug smuggler worth more than almost 25 years of dedication and hard work, protecting two borders in two different states? While the president can pardon a turkey, it's just a signature to him. For us, it's life-altering."
The comments came after Andy Ramirez, chief of the LEOAC, confirmed that the U.S. Bureau of Prisons at the prison where Border Patrol Agent Jesus E. 'Chito' Diaz Jr. is serving his prison sentence told him he cannot go home because his wife, a field operations supervisor Border Patrol agent in Del Rio Border Patrol Sector, Texas, is armed.
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"LEOAC was informed … Diaz cannot go home to a house with a weapon," the organization said. "That to do so would be a violation of his probation, and that he would be returned to prison."
Ramirez confirmed that there are a number of law enforcement officers in Diaz' family, including his wife and his brother, Luis.
"We at LEOAC fully understand why this rule would ordinarily apply to the so-called 'normal convicted felon.' However, this case was a complete overreach as a prosecution, contained false allegations starting with the fact that then-juvenile narco-trafficker and illegal alien 'Bernal' was labeled by the ICE Office of Professional Responsibility investigating agents as lacking credibility as a witness in their report to the U.S.Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas along with CBP Internal Affairs," the organization's statement said.
"It's also known that he and other witnesses, federal agents testifying against Agent Diaz, also had credibility issues given the numerous conflicting statements and outright admissions of perjury (lying) for which none of them were charged by the government."
Ramirez also noted Diaz' story "never changed," but the judge, Alia Moses, "filtered evidence" and that ensured the "conviction of an innocent Border Patrol agent while the real criminals were made out to be victims and protected by the U.S. and Mexican governments."
"What will DOJ do next to the Diaz family? Will they not be satisfied until they have forced Diana into an early retirement, which given her age is highly unlikely? Or do they want to see Chito and Diana divorced? Isn't it enough that they've destroyed Chito's name and reputation? Isn't it enough that they've engaged in an attack on Diana's career as a 15-year BP agent that has resulted in further promotion and advancement to be halted, the details of which cannot be disclosed due to privacy concerns?" Ramirez said.
He said the U.S. House of Representatives needs to investigate the case.
"DOJ knows, as we do, that they can waive and/or modify the rule under the circumstances given both Diana's and Luis' occupations as BP agents, knowing the dangers they face as they continue to protect and defend America's borders from the dangerous drug cartels and human traffickers infiltrating the U.S. from Mexico each and every day. DOJ also knows that this case never should have seen the inside of a courtroom and should have solely resulted in, at the most, internal discipline by the Border Patrol," Ramirez said.
WND reported several days earlierwhen the federal government started reaching into theprison commissaryfund belonging to Diaz to address part of a $7,000 fine imposed by the judge. That's even though the court earlier told Diaz the fine would not be paid until after his jail sentence.
While members of Congress already have asked the Justice Department andAttorney GeneralEric Holder to review the case, there has been no response from the Obama administration.
Ramirez noted that Rep.Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., wrote about the controversy, including "a request for a waiver of the fine imposed by the court." He said that request "has clearly been ignored."
"We concur with Mr. Hunter that this fine must be waived given the fact that this case is filled with inconsistencies in testimony, perjury, and knowing that Judge Moses filtered evidence and materials that could well have led to an acquittal verdict by the jury," he said.
"We call on the House Committee on the Judiciary and House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to investigate this case and others for a pattern of overreaching political prosecutions of law enforcement officers while protecting illegal alien narco-traffickers [that] has continued through three presidential administrations. Also, Congress must question why DOJ can blatantly ignore congressional inquiries and begin holding the other federal government branches accountable," Ramirez said.
According to the FreeAgentDiaz.com website,Diaz was "maliciously prosecuted at the request of the Mexican consul in Eagle Pass, Texas."
The legal case against the officer was "solely motivated by politics and is yet another example of prosecutorial abuse and misconduct while protecting Mexico's narco-terror influences," organizers of the website said. They have been collecting donations to help with the fine as well as the needs of the agent's family.
According to the discovery documents, other agents, hours after the alleged incident, claimed to an off-duty Border Patrol officer that Diaz used "excessive force" on the drug smuggler. That's even though the suspect "was processed for voluntary return to Mexico by BPA Marco A. Ramirez, and subsequently returned to Mexico on the same date."
The officer was accused of handcuffing the suspect, then lifting him by his handcuffed arms. But government records show the smuggler reported no injuries, and was sent back to Mexico almost immediately.
Prosecutors in the concluded casewent back into court as soon asWNDstarted reporting on the controversies involved and obtained a court order that prevents the defense counsel or Diaz from releasing discovery documentation in the case.
However, the advocates council previously had received the information and it now has been posted online.
The order came fromMosesonly a few days afterWNDreported ondocumentsrevealing the unidentified teenage drug smuggler had compromised his credibility by lying on the scene about any knowledge of marijuana.
Among the documents revealed in the file is the complaint from the Mexican consul, which claimed that the suspect caught hauling 75 pounds of drugs into the U.S. "was arrested with excessive force" and that "minor complained about the incident once he arrived to the South Station."
However, the U.S. government's report said the drug trafficking suspect, who was given immunity by the federal government, "did not complain that he was injured, hurt, or in pain when the official twisted his arms and applied the 'heavy pressure.'"
Ramirez said, "The government's case is based on false testimony that is contradicted by the facts. Clearly, the U.S.attorney's office is concerned thatWNDwill obtain other documents proving the prosecution of Diaz involved an abuse of government authority."
On Oct. 20, Moses sentenced Diaz to 24 months in prison after he was found guilty in a federal criminal trial of denying the Mexican teenager of his constitutional rights by applying excessive force during the incident. He was accused eventually of violating the smuggler's rights by forcing him to the ground during his arrest, handcuffing him, then pulling on his arms to coerce him into complying with orders.
 Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean |
Border watchers will remember the extended battle fought by Border Patrol AgentsIgnacio RamosandJose Compeanafter they were prosecuted, convicted and jailed, again at the request of the Mexican government, for shooting at and striking a drug smuggler who reportedly dropped a load in the U.S. and was fleeing back to Mexico.
Their punishments ultimately were commuted by President George W. Bush, although they did not receive pardons, leaving their convictions on their records.
Their original case stemmed from the Feb. 17, 2005, shooting of Oswaldo Aldrete-Davila. The two officers said they thought Aldrete-Davila was armed and made a threatening move.
WND was among the first to reportAldrete-Davila then committed a second drug offense, smuggling a second load of 750 pounds of marijuana across the border while he was under the protection of immunity from federal prosecutor Johnny Sutton's office and in possession of a border-pass card authorized by the Department of Homeland Security.
WND also reported when Aldrete-Davila admitted to federal drug smuggling charges,was convicted and sentenced to federal prison for a 57 months.
Aldrete-Davila was granted immunity for his drug smuggling by federal prosecutors in exchange for his testimony against the agents. He had crossed the Rio Grande and picked up a marijuana-loaded vehicle near El Paso. After a car chase in which he fled from the officers, he abandoned the vehicle and ran back across the border on foot. He was shot in the buttocks as he ran.
Read more:'You can't even go home!' Feds go bonkers on border agent ...http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=377437#ixzz1gdhmvtwh
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