In the years leading up to the sentence commutations of Border Patrol agents Jose Compean and Ignacio Ramos, WND published at least 228 news stories and 51 commentaries about the case.
The detailed coverage has continued since the first report Aug. 7, 2006.
Ramos and Compean began serving sentences of 11 and 12 years, respectively, for shooting at a fleeing illegal alien drug dealer while he smuggled nearly 750 pounds of marijuana across the border. The men were convicted of assault, discharge of a weapon in the commission of a crime of violence and deprivation of civil rights.
Joseph Farah, editor of WND, launched a petition and letter-writing campaign that re-energized the Ramos-Compean issue in the last 30 days of Bush’s term.
The petition collected more than 40,000 signatures by the time President Bush commuted the agents’ sentences, and the letter campaign produced more than 3,000 FedEx letters to the White House.
WND sent copies of some of the news stories and commentaries to the agents in prison. When Jose Compean learned about the petition and FedEx campaign, he sent a letter to WND from the Federal Correctional Institution in Lisbon, Ohio.
“Although our case received attention before we reported to prison, I truly believed people would forget all about us,” Compean wrote. “Once we reported to prison, I was very happy to see how wrong I was. I have received thousands of letters from people all over the country. I have also received letters from other countries such as Italy and even a few from soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
Joe Loya, Ramos’ father-in-law, said he was thankful for the in-depth coverage.
“We can only thank Joseph Farah, Jerome Corsi and the staff at WorldNetDaily because from the beginning you have been with us and you never gave up on the case,” he said today. “Your reporting had a lot to do with the decision today by President Bush to commute the sentences.”
The families remained optimistic until the president’s last day in office and kept their faith through difficult times.
“You have to believe that God has a plan,” Patty Compean told WND. “He will not throw something at you that you cannot handle.”
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