Ramos and Compean: Not The Only Border Guards Unfairly Prosecuted

U.S. Border Guard David Sipe was convicted in 2001 for civil rights violations against a drug smuggler. While the smuggler was hitting Sipe, he was very close to Sipe's gun. Sipe, fearing for his life and fearing he would be jumped by two other illegal aliens hiding in the brush, subdued the smuggler by hitting him with his flashlight, resulting in a wound that required staples to be put in the smuggler's head. In defending his case, Sipe lost all his money, his house, and his wife. The smuggler got a government settlement of $80,000 and now has his own ranch in Mexico.

Finally, Sipe was granted a new trial, and his conviction thrown out. In the new trial, the judge agreed that prosecutors withheld information in the first trial that would have benefited the defense, including a personal dislike of the defendant by a fellow agent and inaccurate criminal histories of the witnesses. Material witnesses in the first trial — illegal aliens — also received benefits from the government including the right to work and travel freely in the United States.

Sipe lost 7 years of his life.