Jose Aldrete Davila, 27, the man whose February 2005 shooting sent two U.S. Border Patrol agents to long stretches in federal prison, pleaded guilty on Thursday to smuggling more than 100 kilos of marijuana, the El Paso Times reported.

Aldrete, a resident of Ciudad Juarez, was shot in the buttocks while trying to flee from agents Jose Alonso Compean and Ignacio Ramos near Fabens, Texas.

The marijuana charges stemmed from incidents in September and October 2005, well after the incident involving Compean and Ramos, according to this Internet post. 

The agents were convicted by a federal jury in Marchj 2006 of assault with serious bodily injury, assault with a deadly weapon, violating Aldrete's civil rights and tampering with evidence, according to a review of the case by America's Most Wanted.

Aldrete faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and possibly up to 40 years in prison when he is sentenced on July 16, the Times reported.

"We waited for this time. We knew it would come. It's another step (in proving) my husband's innocence," Ignacio Ramos' wife Monica said as she left the federal courthouse in El Paso Thursday, according to the Times.

U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton, who has been criticized for his prosecution of the agents, said in a prepared statement that Aldrete was prosecuted because there was evidence, the Times reported.

"Just as Aldrete's illegal conduct did not excuse the crimes committed by Compean and Ramos, likewise, their crimes did not excuse his," Sutton said in his statement.

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