San Diego, May 24 (EFE).- Eduardo Arellano Felix, who managed money for his brothers Tijuana-based drug cartel, pleaded guilty Friday to money laundering after reaching an agreement with U.S. federal prosecutors.
The 56-year-old physician will spend 15 years in federal prison for laundering and investing the cartel's profits.
He will be deported back to Mexico once he serves his sentence.
Arellano Felix entered the plea in U.S. District Court in San Diego, where has been in custody since last summer after his extradition from Mexico.
Under the plea deal, prosecutors dropped charges of racketeering and conspiracy to traffic drugs.
Eduardo Arellano Felix admitted to handling the cartel's money from 1986 to 2002, when his brothers Benjamin and Ramon were taken out of commission by Mexican police.
Benjamin was arrested and ultimately extradited to the United States; Ramon died in a shootout.
While Benjamin is serving a 25-year sentence in the United States, yet another brother, Francisco Javier Arellano Felix, received a life sentence six years ago after the U.S. Coast Guard nabbed him aboard a boat in international waters.
