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This archival content was originally written for and published on KPCC.org. Keep in mind that links and images may no longer work — and references may be outdated.

KPCC Archive

Arellano Felix drug cartel figure pleads guilty in San Diego

Eduardo Arellano Felix, aka "the Doctor" pleaded guilty Friday under an agreement with U.S. prosecutors that will send him to federal prison for 15 years. (Eduardo Arellano Felix during a 2008 news conference In Mexico City. Photo by LUIS ACOSTA/AFP/Getty Images)
Eduardo Arellano Felix, aka "the Doctor" pleaded guilty Friday under an agreement with U.S. prosecutors that will send him to federal prison for 15 years. (Eduardo Arellano Felix during a 2008 news conference In Mexico City. Photo by LUIS ACOSTA/AFP/Getty Images)
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LUIS ACOSTA/AFP/Getty Images
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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 Friday 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.

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