A federal appeals court has refused to throw out lengthy prison sentences for two U.S. Border Patrol agents convicted of shooting an unarmed illegal immigrant and lying about it.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans on Monday upheld most of the convictions against former agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean.
The appeals court vacated their convictions for tampering with an official proceeding, but the three-judge panel refused to reverse the convictions that resulted in their lengthy sentences.
Ramos and Compean were convicted in 2006 and sentenced to 11 and 12 years in prison, respectively. Both men claimed they shot at Osvaldo Aldrete Davila, an illegal immigrant and admitted drug smuggler, in self defense.
