Former Coahuila Governor Jorge Torres López. Photo: Google

By KELIN DILLON

Former interim governor of the Mexican state of Coahuila, Jorge Torres López, was sentenced to three years in federal prison by a Texas court on Wednesday, June 23, for the crime of money laundering.

The 67-year-old, who replaced Humberto Moreira as Coahuila’s governor for a brief time in 2011, pleaded guilty to the charges in June 2020.

“The former governor of Coahuila was sentenced to federal prison for his participation in a money laundering plan that includes crimes against a foreign nation, involving the bribery of a public official,” said U.S. authorities.

“Torres López admitted that during part of his governorship he carried out financial transactions in the United States to hide the bribes he received in exchange for contracts to build roads for the state of Coahuila. As part of his guilty plea, he agreed to lose a property in the United States associated with payments,” U.S. federal authorities said in a statement.

The former governor will remain in federal custody until he is transferred to the prison of the U.S. government’s determination, and is expected to be deported back from Mexico at the end of his three-year sentence.