Tomás Yarrington, the ex-mayor of Matamoros and former Tamaulipas governor accused of accepting bribes from the Gulf Cartel, is expected to go before a federal judge next week and enter a guilty plea.
Yarrington is accused of taking bribes that totaled millions of dollars. In 2018, after a long-awaited extradition, he appeared before a federal court in Brownsville and pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Since then, he’s appeared a few times before a judge to request approval of a new attorney, looking over discovery documents, status conference hearings and numerous sealed events. Yarrington’s charges remain the same, yet a re-arraignment hearing is scheduled to take place next Thursday.
There are a few reasons why a defendant would face re-arraignment, a hearing when a judge reads out the charges to the defendant.
Omar Escobar Jr., former district attorney in Starr County, said this is a time when they’re asked to enter a plea. However, the charges have not changed since Yarrington’s last arraignment in 2018.
“So, if he’s going to be re-arraigned, it’s likely that there’s going to be a change in the plea,” Escobar said.
Carlos A. Garcia, another criminal defense attorney, said a re-arraignment means Yarrington is going to enter a guilty plea.
“Anytime there’s notice of re-arraignment, that means that the parties have reached an agreement to enter a plea of guilt and likely accept responsibility,” Garcia said.
According to the indictment, the bribes began when Yarrington was a candidate for the gubernatorial seat in 1998. Corrupt state police officers would allegedly accept the bribes from the criminal organization and deliver it to the governor.
Government officials believe a portion of the money was used to purchase and maintain a luxury condominium on South Padre Island worth about $450,000, a waterfront property on Port Isabel, property in Bexar County, an exclusive hunting resort in Tamaulipas and an airplane.
The payments allegedly continued throughout the governor’s six-year term in office while the cartel moved drugs through the state into the United States. Fake businesses were set up in the U.S. to launder the money. Yarrington is also suspected of taking control of about $60 million pesos of public funds stolen by a Nuevo Laredo public official.
Yarrington is facing charges that include conspiracy of racketeering, importing cocaine and marijuana, laundering money, making false statements to financial institutions, bank fraud, and structuring transactions to avoid reporting requirements.
Chris Flood, Yarrington’s legal counsel, said he couldn’t respond to questions yet.
