GOVERNMENT DISMISSES CHARGES AGAINST BORDER PATROL AGENTS

Federal prosecutors late Friday dismissed all criminal charges
against two Vermont-based U.S. Border Patrol agents accused of
covering up a drug bust to protect an informant.

Government lawyers said they now doubt they can prove Steven Garceau
and Ross Schofield had any criminal intent when they confiscated 60
pounds of marijuana in February 2005, but released the suspect after
he promised to alert them to future shipments. The agents then
altered reports and fabricated a crime scene east of Derby to suggest
they found the drugs abandoned.

Garceau and Schofield, who had faced up to 20 years in prison, hope
to resume their jobs, defense lawyers said.

In dismissing the case, the U.S. Attorney's Office also wanted to
avoid a clash between the defendants' right to gather helpful
information and the interest of law-enforcement agencies to keep
procedures and investigative materials confidential, prosecutors said
in papers filed at Burlington's federal courthouse.

Those two claims competed often since a grand jury in November
indicted Garceau and Schofield on six counts of conspiracy and making
false statements.

"We felt a clear conflict would arise on what the agents needed to
prove at trial and what the agencies involved would not want
discovered," David Kirby, the acting U.S. attorney for this case,
said in an interview. "In the interests of justice, we had to do this."

The defense has contended throughout the case that Garceau and
Schofield were acting in accordance with common procedures of the
Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Dismissal of the charges proves the validity of the agents' defense,
said lawyer Eric Miller, who represents Garceau.

"This is what we have been saying since the outset of this case,"
Miller said. "Their decision entirely vindicates our position. These
agents had every intent to further legitimate law-enforcement
interests. They were trying to stop drugs from coming across the border."

Neither Garceau nor Schofield -- both 33-year-olds who live near
Newport -- returned messages seeking comment. Miller said the agents
were "happy and relieved" to learn the cases against them have been dropped.

Garceau and Schofield are suspended without pay but are hopeful they
can return to the Border Patrol, where both were decorated agents,
Miller said. An internal proceeding could decide the agents' status,
the lawyer said.

Kirby said Garceau and Schofield are more likely to face sanctions.

"I expect that administrative charges will be brought, and they will
be dealt with administratively," Kirby said. The prosecutor's office
would not be involved in any internal proceedings, Kirby added.

Schofield's attorney, Paul Kelly, and Miller praised the U.S.
Attorney's Office for their "courage" in dismissing the case.

The dismissal requires the signature of a federal judge to be final,
and the documents say prosecutors could refile charges later. But
that, wrote prosecutors, is unlikely.