After making a deal with prosecutors, a former governor of Coahuila will plead guilty to one charge of money laundering before a federal judge in Corpus Christi, Texas, on June 17.
Jorge Torres López, whose trial was set to begin on June 22, was arrested in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, in February 2019 and extradited to Texas that October where he was charged with money laundering, criminal association to commit bank fraud and criminal association to commit electronic remittance fraud, in the amount of around US $8.8 million.
The Federal District Court of the Southern District of Texas claims Torres used Texas banks to launder money stolen from the Coahuila state treasury in 2011.
Torres had been placed on the U.S. most-wanted list by the Drug Enforcement Administration before his arrest and was described as armed and dangerous. He originally pleaded not guilty and said the trial would clear his name.
Torres was interim governor of Coahuila between January and November 2011 after Humberto Moreira — who has also been accused of corruption but never charged — resigned to become national president of the Institutional Revolutionary Party,
Torres could face up to 20 years in federal prison and a $500,000 fine.
Source: Vanguardia (sp)
