Ex-Mexico Governor Linked to Drug Cartels Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering in U.S
Mary Anne Webber, 26 March 2021
A former governor of Tamaulipas, Mexico on Thursday pleaded guilty in a Texas court for taking over $3.5 million in bribes for government contracts, which he then laundered in the United States.
Tomas Yarrington Ruvalcaba, 64, was the governor of Tamaulipas from 1999 to 2005. Yarrington walked into U.S. District Judge Hilda Tagle’s courtroom shortly before 1 p.m.
The former governor was facing eight charges, which included alleged involvement with drug cartels from 1998 through 2013. He pleaded guilty to the money laundering count in a plea agreement for federal prosecutors to drop the other seven charges, Seattle Times reported.
Yarrington’s plea was accepted, and sentencing would be at a later date. He pleaded not guilty to the charges in 2018, after several years of avoiding authorities, according to MYRGV News.
