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Former Tamaulipas governor and one-time Mexican presidential candidate Tómas Yarrington Ruvalcaba has been released from federal prison, records show.
Yarrington, who was sentenced to nine years in prison on March 15, 2023, was released on July 3.
He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments on March 25, 2021.
Federal prosecutors have said he was responsible for laundering between $3.5 and $9.5 million over a period of 14 years.
As part of his plea deal, the federal government dismissed multiple charges that accused the former Mexican official of conspiracy to import cocaine and marijuana, bank fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution.
He was also accused of taking millions of dollars in bribes from the Gulf Cartel, which were delivered by state police in Mexico.
The alleged conduct occurred from Jan. 1, 1998, to May 22, 2013.
Yarrington initially fled to Italy, but was arrested by Interpol there on April 9, 2017. He was extradited back to the United States in April 2018.
When he made his first appearance in Brownsville federal court, authorities shut down roads while a helicopter hovered overhead as a convoy brought him to the courthouse as heavily armed U.S. Marshals escorted him into the courthouse.
The remainder of the proceedings against Yarrington were held in Houston.
After his sentencing, however, federal prosecutors and Yarrington’s defense attorneys on Nov. 21, 2023, filed a joint motion for amended judgment, which U.S. District Judge Rolando Olvera granted on Dec. 1, 2023.
At issue is when Yarrington’s detention began, which was not reflected in the sentencing order handed down on March 15, 2023.
The parties agreed that his detention began on April 9, 2017 when he was arrested in Italy.
“The Bureau of Prisons Designation & Sentence Computation Center has not credited Mr. Yarrington’s time served from April 9, 2017, and indicated it will not do so without a written statement from the Court that the arrest in Italy was regarding this case. … Accordingly, the parties move the Court to amend its written judgment to state that Mr. Yarrington was first arrested in this matter on April 9, 2017,” the joint motion stated.
The parties did not ask the court to modify Yarrington’s sentence, but just to note the initial detention date so that the Bureau of Prisons could calculate his time served.
The initial judgment that recommended Yarrington receive credit for time served did not include the April 9, 2017 date, which was included in the amended judgment.
Upon his release, Yarrington was required to report to probation within 72 hours if he was not deported first.
He is still required to serve three years supervised release.
Yarrington was Matamoros’ mayor from 1993 to 1995, and from 1999 to 2005 he was governor of Tamaulipas.
He was an Institutional Revolutionary Party candidate for president of Mexico in 2005.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect the correct spelling of Ruvalcaba’s last name.
