Arellano Felix drug cartel figure pleads guilty

Arellano Felix drug cartel figure pleads guilty

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The last of the Arellano Felix brothers who founded an infamous Mexican drug cartel has pleaded guilty in San Diego to helping ship hundreds of millions of dollars in proceeds from the United States.

Eduardo Arellano Felix pleaded guilty today under an agreement with U.S. prosecutors that will send him to federal prison for 15 years. He will be deported to Mexico when he completes his sentence.

The 56-year-old medical doctor acknowledged he had a major role in the finances of the Arellano Felix cartel from 1986 to 2002.

As part of the agreement, prosecutors will drop charges including racketeering and conspiracy to traffic drugs.

One of the brothers who founded the Tijuana-based cartel is dead and two others are in U.S. prisons.