Eduardo Arellano-Felix, the last of four brothers who ran the drug cartel in Mexico known as the Arellano-Felix Organization, was sentenced Monday to 15 years in U.S. federal prison for his role as chief financial officer, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.
Arellano-Felix, 56, was
sentenced after pleading guilty in May to charges of conspiracy to
launder money and to use and invest illicit drug profits.
A medical doctor known as
"El Doctor," Arellano-Felix used drug-trafficking proceeds to pay
members of the drug cartel to commit crimes, buy firearms, pay bribes
and purchase drugs, according to the plea agreement.
Although Arellano-Felix
was not directly involved with kidnapping and killings, he was "still an
integral part" and "fully aware of the methods" of the cartel, U.S.
District Judge Larry A. Burns said.
Arellano-Felix "advised
his brothers as they orchestrated the importation of hundreds of tons of
cocaine and marijuana into the United States, ordered the kidnap and
murder of numerous people, and directed the widespread corruption of law
enforcement and military personnel in Mexico," according to a
sentencing memorandum.
In addition to the 15-year prison sentence, Arellano-Felix will forfeit $50 million, the department news release said.
Two of Arellano-Felix's
brothers, Benjamin and Francisco Javier, are in U.S. prisons for
racketeering, drug trafficking and money laundering. Ramon
Arellano-Felix, whom the Justice Department described as the cartel's
enforcer, was killed in a shootout with police in 2002, the statement
said.
Eduardo Arellano-Felix
was arrested on October 25, 2008, after a gun battle with Mexican
forces. Arellano-Felix was ordered extradited to the United States in
2010 but spent nearly two years on unsuccessful appeals of his case.
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