A former US Border Patrol agent who grabbed the nation’s attention following the February 2005 shooting of an illegal immigrant who was suspected of smuggling marijuana will speak at a Temecula gathering and appear in the city’s Fourth of July parade.

Jose Compean’s life has unfolded in dramatic fashion since he and colleague Ignacio Ramos shot an immigrant on the US-Mexico border southeast of El Paso, TX.

Their lives soon became a blur, as they were convicted a year later for the shooting and respectively sentenced to 11- and 12-year federal prison terms.

They soon became lightning rods in the debate over border security, prompting President George W. Bush to issue commutations for both men in his final days in office.

Compean said he doesn’t use the word "ordeal" to describe his experience.

"The way I see it, it was more like an adventure," he said in a recent telephone interview from his El Paso home. "With everything that’s happened, I don’t think there’s any other way to describe it. Not many people, I guess, get a presidential commutation."

Compean said his talk Friday night at a local Republican gathering will be his first speaking engagement since he and Ramos were released from prison in February. It will also be the first time he’s appeared in a parade since high school.

He is traveling to the Temecula area with his wife and three children ages 2 to 14.

Compean will detail his experience at a dinner meeting of the Murrieta-Temecula Republican Assembly. The event will begin at 6 p.m. at the Temeku Hills Clubhouse at 41687 Temeku Dr. in Temecula.

Ramos and Compean were convicted in the shooting of an unarmed immigrant and trying to cover it up.

During their trial, the pair said the immigrant, who was accused of drug smuggling, brandished a gun and resisted arrest before he fled across the border.

The agents were convicted in 2006 and each was sentenced to prison for more than a decade.

After receiving immunity to testify against the two agents, the illegal immigrant was arrested in 2007 Advertisement
for allegedly transporting more than 750 pounds of marijuana into the United States.

The trial of the two agents – and the stiff sentences imposed upon them – ignited a firestorm of criticism from immigration policy critics who argued that the men were simply doing their jobs.

A letter-writing campaign was launched. Its leaders included US Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, who represents California’s sprawling 46th District.

Twelve other lawmakers joined Rohrabacher in penning a November 2008 letter that pressed for the agents’ release and complained that they received stiffer sentences than offenders convicted of manslaughter, sexual assault and several other serious crimes.

The letter also said the agents had been held in solitary confinement because of the danger posed by the law enforcement careers.

Compean said he was amazed by the outpouring of support.

"I got thousands of letters while I was [in prison]," he said in the interview. "It was unbelievable. I didn’t expect us to continue getting the support after we were sentenced. I thought people would forget about us and move onto something else."

Following Bush’s commendation – which reduces a convict’s prison term but does not wipe their criminal record clean – the agents were released from prison in February.

Now 32, Compean said he is in regrouping mode as he decides how to chart his future. In the meantime, he is caring for his father-in-law, who suffered a coma following a March traffic collision in the El Paso area.

Compean said he has heard that the convictions have sparked uncertainty among many Border Patrol agents over how they should proceed under similar circumstances.

But Compean said he does not know that for sure, as upper-level officials in the agency have prohibited agents from speaking to him or Ramos.

"It was strange being on one side [of the badge] and then going to the other," he mused. "I guess I’ve experienced both sides."

Contact Adele at (951) 302-9105 or adelegaryh@msn.com for more information on Compean’s talk or to make arrangements to attend the dinner.

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