U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers have deported Tomas Jesus Yarrington Ruvalcaba, the former governor of Tamaulipas, Mexico, who was previously convicted of money laundering in the United States. Yarrington was returned to Mexico on April 9 and handed over to the authorities without incident.
ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) teams in Harlingen, San Diego, and Mexico City coordinated his deportation at the San Ysidro Port of Entry. Mexican authorities have sought Yarrington for charges related to organized crime and illicit financial transactions. ICE ERO Mexico City and the Security Alliance for Fugitive Enforcement Initiative played key roles in providing necessary records during his immigration proceedings, leading to his removal.
Yarrington, 68, admitted to money laundering conspiracy charges in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas on March 25, 2021, receiving a sentence of 108 months. The investigation involved multiple agencies, including ICE Homeland Security Investigations, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation, the FBI, and the Texas Attorney General’s Office. The U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of Texas conducted the prosecution.
Court records indicate that Yarrington, who governed Tamaulipas from 1999 to 2005 and ran for president in 2005, accepted bribes from Mexican entities in exchange for business dealings with the state. He utilized this money to invest in U.S. properties under different names to conceal his ownership and the illicit origins of funds. His investments included real estate, airplanes, and luxury vehicles.
Yarrington was captured in Italy in April 2017 while traveling under an alias with a fake passport. Italian authorities arrested him on a provisional warrant linked to a 2013 indictment. Although he resisted extradition, he was eventually sent to the U.S. in April 2018 through efforts by the Justice Department's Office of International Affairs.
On July 3, 2024, ICE ERO officers collected Yarrington from the Federal Bureau of Prisons in Thomson, Illinois, and later placed him in ICE custody for immigration proceedings. His deportation was facilitated after a February 27 ruling by an immigration judge from the DOJ Executive Office for Immigration Review. Yarrington waived his right to appeal the decision.
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