A former Mexican political heavyweight who once vied for his nation’s presidency is now back on native soil — not by choice, but by deportation. After completing a prison sentence in the United States for financial crimes, Tomas Jesus Yarrington Ruvalcaba was handed over to Mexican authorities at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, located at the border between San Diego and Tijuana. The 68-year-old ex-governor of Tamaulipas had been serving time in Illinois following his 2021 conviction in the U.S. for conspiring to launder money.
Although he has been returned to his country, Yarrington’s legal troubles are far from over. He faces an array of criminal charges in Mexico, including accusations of organized crime involvement and unlawful enrichment. His American prison sentence — 108 months at the Federal Correctional Institution in Thomson — might now seem lenient compared to what awaits him. Many Mexican prisons, according to organizations like Human Rights Watch, suffer from overcrowding, deteriorating conditions, and widespread corruption, making incarceration in the U.S. appear almost comfortable by comparison.
Yarrington’s political career once positioned him as a key player in Mexico’s Institutional Revolutionary Party, even making a bid for the presidency in 2005. His governorship of Tamaulipas from 1999 to 2005 was marred by allegations that he accepted millions in bribes from drug cartels, including the infamous Gulf Cartel. Authorities say his ties to the illicit drug trade go back even further, to his time as mayor of Matamoros — a city right on the U.S.-Mexico border. Through these connections, he is believed to have amassed a fortune, much of which was funneled into the U.S. through an elaborate network of shell buyers and false ownership claims.
According to statements from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Yarrington used the money from these bribes to invest in luxury assets across the United States — beachfront condos, private aircraft, upscale vehicles, and commercial real estate. These purchases were part of an extensive scheme to conceal the origin of the funds. The documentation provided by ICE and other law enforcement agencies played a significant role in the immigration proceedings that led to his eventual deportation.
Yarrington’s downfall began when he was arrested in Italy in 2017 while traveling under a fake identity. Authorities there apprehended him based on a U.S. arrest warrant that had been issued years earlier. His extradition marked the beginning of a complex legal journey, culminating in a guilty plea in a Texas courtroom. Prosecutors from several U.S. agencies — including the DEA, FBI, IRS, and the Texas Attorney General’s office — collaborated to bring the former governor to justice. By late February 2025, an immigration judge ordered his removal from the country, and Yarrington waived any right to appeal, sealing his return to Mexico’s judicial system.