Federal officials say that Osvaldo Aldrete Davila, the Mexican national whose testimony helped convict two U.S. Border Patrol agents of violating Aldrete's civil rights, has not been rearrested for drug smuggling, according to a story in Monday's El Paso Times.

Aldrete, who was shot in the buttocks while running away from a marijuana-laden van near Fabens, Texas, on Feb. 17, 2005, was granted immunity from drug charges when he testified in the trial of agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean.

Ramos and Compean were convicted in a jury trial of violating Aldrete's civil rights and of trying to cover up the incident, the Times reported.

But in the run-up to the agents' controversial sentencing last month, their supporters and anti-illegal-immigrant activists have circulated rumors on cable news shows and on Web sites that Aldrete had been arrested for drug smuggling while waiting to testify, according to the Times.

U.S. Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, posted an editorial on his Web site, saying, "While waiting free to testify ... Aldrete Davila was arrested again for drug smuggling and once again (was) given immunity from the prosecutor."

Shana Jones, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in El Paso, said Poe was "misinformed" about a second alleged smuggling attempt.

"To our knowledge and based on the investigation of the Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General, Aldrete Davila has never been arrested in the U.S. or Mexico," Jones said in a written statement. "He definitely had never been arrested anywhere we knew of on the date of his testimony. The only immunity granted was for events that occurred February 17, 2005. No immunity was given by the Western District of Texas for anything else."

Poe was unavailable for comment, but Andy Ramirez, chairman of Friends of the Border Patrol in California, told the Times that he was one of the people who gave the information to the Texas congressman.

"We understand through sources, government sources, that he (Aldrete) was arrested again in October of last year ... for 1,000 pounds of marijuana found in an El Paso stash house," Ramirez told the Times.

Ramirez also made the same claim at a special congressional hearing in El Paso in August, the Times reported.

But in a news conference following last month's sentencing of Ramos and Compean, U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton told reporters there was "no truth to finding him (smuggling) again."

Sutton said at the time that he had no sympathy for Aldrete and that if he were found smuggling again, "I would be happy to prosecute him," the Times reported.

Meanwhile, according to the Los Angeles Times, Aldrete has filed a $5 million suit against the federal government, claiming he was permanently injured in the incident.

Three jurors said in sworn statements after the agents' trial that they felt pressured to convict the men and didn't know a hung jury verdict was possible, the Los Angeles Times reported last month.

But a defense request for a new trial was denied, and Ramos was sentenced to 11 years in prison and Compean to 12 years. The men have been allowed to remain free until they must report to prison in January.

A congressional hearing on the highly charged and controversial case has been tentatively set to begin a week from today, according to the El Paso Times report.