Glenn Beck: Clock ticking on pardon
January 14, 2009 - 12:45 ET
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Border Patrol Fundraiser Shirt
***All of Glenn's proceeds from the sale of this shirt will be donated to a legal defense fund for Agents Ramos and Compean.***
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GLENN: Well, apparently, apparently it would be John Allen Aregood. Bush pardoned Aregood, but he was only involved in a conspiracy to harbor and transport illegal aliens. That's all he did. Or Allendale Austin. He was only convicted of misapplication of mortgage funds. What did that become illegal? I mean, that was cool. And, of course, William Sidney Baldwin, Sr. in a conspiracy to possess marijuana. So as I understand that one, he was just a group of guy -- with a group of guys that wanted some pot but never actually did anything about it. Yes, the exact effects of smoking too much pot.
VOICE: That was another person more deserving of a presidential pardon than jailed border patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean on the Glenn Beck program.
GLENN: Wouldn't it be great if we had some pot? Yeah, man, it would be. We should get some. Yeah. Whew.
We have Tara Setmayer on the line with us now to talk to us a little bit about Compean and Ramos. We're running out of time. My theory is, Tara, that George Bush is not going to pardon these guys but Barack Obama may be the best hope to pardon Compean and Ramos.
SETMAYER: Well, Glenn, again thank you for having me on. I actually just stepped out of a press conference that's going on right now as we speak with my boss and about nine other members of congress that are pointing out the fact that U.S. attorney Johnny Sutton, who everyone knows oversaw the prosecution of Ramos and Compean, pointing out the fact that even Johnny Sutton in his own words has said at least a half a dozen times that he recognizes that the punishment in this case is extremely high or that it's harsh or that he has some sympathy for that. So we know that U.S. attorney Sutton and his relationship with the President is really at the crux of why the President has been so stubborn about this issue because of personal relationships and loyalty. So we're pleading with the President and with Mr. Sutton to do the right thing: Come out publicly, come out officially, recommend commutation. You know, most of us don't --
GLENN: Nobody's asking for pardon.
SETMAYER: That's right. We're asking for commutation because we recognize that a pardon, as much as we believe that these gentlemen should be completely pardoned and we believe that, we don't believe they even committed a crime. However, given the politics of the situation, given the relationship between Sutton and the President, we know that a full pardon would be a full rebuke of Johnny Sutton and we know what the President -- how the President reacts to personal relationships. So we've abandoned the pardon effort because I think that the President believes that they did some wrongdoing, and there are some people who believe that. We don't, but there are some who do. But no one can argue that the punishment of 11 and 12 years in federal prison for what they did is a reasonable punishment. They've already spent two years in solitary confinement. Do they really need to spend another 10?
GLENN: For shooting a drug runner in the butt.
SETMAYER: That's right.
GLENN: Here's the thing. If they wouldn't have -- if Johnny Sutton wouldn't have, at the end, put the extra charge on that was never intended to be used this way, would they have served the sentence that was originally coming their way?
SETMAYER: No. I'm glad you brought that up. Johnny Sutton's office added several charges to these officers as the months went by and they wouldn't plea because they didn't feel they were guilty. So they said, "Okay, well, we're going to add some charges." And one of those charges was the 924(c)Gun charge versus a 10-year mandatory minimum sentence enhancement for the discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence. Now, back when that statute was first passed in 1968, the intention of that statute by congress was to send a message to criminals to leave their guns at home. And as the statute evolved over the years, they added in drug trafficking. So the whole point of this gun law was to deter people who were smuggling drugs or committing a crime from carrying a weapon because you are, bam, getting slammed with a mandatory minimum 10-year sentence. Never in the 40-year history of the statute has it ever been applied to law enforcement officers in their officia! l capacity. And Johnny Sutton's office knew that. He knows it now. And he keeps referring back to, "Well, congress set the punishment. I didn't do it." But he had prosecutorial discretion to even bring the charge in the first place.
So this is where we are and, you know, for humanitarian reasons, I mean, child molesters, rapists, murderers do not spend 11 and 12 years in prison.
GLENN: Especially solitary confinement for a solid two years.
SETMAYER: That's right.
GLENN: Tara, what do you want people to do?
SETMAYER: I want people to continue calling the White House and they should also call Johnny Sutton's office. He said it. He has said it in his own words when he was on his personal PR tour for three years now trying to justify this prosecution.
GLENN: He said it to me.
SETMAYER: That's right.
GLENN: He said it to me. Because I asked him, would you talk to the President about that. And he said, that's not my decision.
SETMAYER: That's right.
GLENN: And I said, "But you just said that you think that it's too stiff."
SETMAYER: That's right.
GLENN: "You know, will you do that." And he said, we have a process.
SETMAYER: That's right. We've gone through that process now at this point. They have submitted their official commutation requests, they have gone through the process, they have gone through the pardon attorney. It is sitting on the President's desk. The only thing left to do is for the President to sign that commutation. And Mr. Sutton on your show said that with regard to a pardon or clemency at some point the Department of Justice will ask for my recommendation. And when that time comes, we'll make one. Well, that time is now, and it's -- you know, Mr. Sutton is in a position to effect which way this goes.
GLENN: What is Johnny Sutton doing after this President leaves office? Do you have any idea? Where is he going to work?
SETMAYER: Well, you know, he's from Texas and he seems to be the hardest working lawman in Texas according to him and once January 20th comes around, it's customary for U.S. attorneys to submit their resignation so the new President can install their own U.S. attorneys. And yesterday the Washington Times had an editorial that said Mr. Sutton's resignation should be the first one. So good luck for him trying to find a job in Texas given the popularity of this case and the unpopularity of not only the President but of Mr. Sutton as long as they continue to dig in their heels and leave these men sitting in solitary confinement.
GLENN: Tara, we'll talk to you again. Thank you very much.
SETMAYER: I appreciate it. Thank you, Glenn.
GLENN: Bye-bye. So there it is. Please, call the White House and just -- and please be respectful. Please. Because they are not going to get anywhere by yelling and screaming at each other or anything. Just please, for humanitarian reasons. They have served their time. It's unreasonable, two years in solitary confinement. And it's only because they wouldn't cave. They didn't see themselves as guilty, the government did and so they kept adding charges and charges and charges. As Tara just said, charges that don't even apply. So please call.
VOICE: And now another person more deserving of a presidential pardon than jailed border patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean.
GLENN: How about Marie Georgette Ginette Briere. She was charged with possession of cocaine with an intent to distribute. She didn't -- I mean, she snorted it all herself. She didn't actually distribute it. What?
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