EL PASO, Texas -- A federal appeals court has upheld the prison term for an admitted drug smuggler wounded in a controversial shooting by Border Patrol agents.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans on Monday upheld drug smuggling sentences totaling nearly a decade in prison for Osvaldo Aldrete Davila.
Aldrete was shot by two border agents, Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, in 2005 while trying to smuggle a load of drugs into Texas. He pleaded guilty to smuggling more marijuana several months later.
The former agents were convicted in the shooting — angering many people who felt they were being punished for doing their job.
Their sentences were later commuted.
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