On June 17, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Jorge Juan Torres-López entered a guilty plea for his role in a money-laundering scheme , which includes “offenses against a foreign nation involving bribery of a public official.”
Torres-López
, 66, admitted to conducting financial transactions in the U.S. to disguise the bribes he received in exchange for road-building contracts for the State of Coahuila during his time as governor.
The former governor worked for the Mexican government from 1994 to 2011. His roles included general director of Promotion and Development while secretary of Finance for the state of Coahuila, municipal president of Saltillo as well as interim governor of Coahuila. In December 2005, Héctor Javier Villarreal-Hernéndez was appointed as undersecretary of Program and Budget for the state of Coahuila. At the time, Torres-López was his supervisor. In July 2008, Villarreal-Hernández was appointed as secretary of Finance for Coahuila, where he remained until his resignation in August 2011.
As part of his plea, Torres-López agreed to surrender a property in the United States.
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U.S. District Judge Nelva González Ramos scheduled the sentencing for September 10.
The former governor faces up to 20 years in prison and a USD 500,000 fine.
was arrested in Mexico in February 2019, where he remained until his extradition to the United States in October 2019.
Villarreal-Hernández
has also been convicted in the Southern and Western Districts of Texas for money laundering and is also awaiting sentencing.
Multiple U.S. agencies conducted the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force investigation dubbed Operation Politico Junction to include Drug Enforcement Administration, IRS - Criminal Investigation, Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, FBI, and U.S. Marshals Service.
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