Two Mexican Judges Suspended for Protecting Cartel-Connected Governor Wanted in Texas

Two Mexican federal judges are facing suspension and were forcibly removed from their offices. The judges are the target of an internal judicial investigation for a series of rulings that protected a fugitive former Mexican governor from extradition, who is currently wanted on money laundering charges in Texas.

Mexican federal judges Lourdes Guadalupe Tovar and Dulce Janeth Vega received a formal notification that they had been suspended by Mexico’s Federal Judicial Disciplinary Tribunal, pending an investigation. The two judges refused to leave their offices in Ciudad Victoria and were forcibly removed by security personnel.

The case against the two judges stems from a series of suspicious rulings in which they issued injunctions and protective orders on behalf of former Tamaulipas Governor Eugenio Hernandez Flores, protecting the politician from extradition to Texas.

Hernandez was the governor of Tamaulipas from 2005 to 2010 for the PRI party. By 2015, U.S. federal prosecutors had obtained an indictment against him on money laundering charges. Since then, Hernandez has been a fugitive from justice.

In 2017, the Tamaulipas government, then controlled by the PAN, arrested Hernandez on embezzlement charges. He spent several years behind bars as he fought extradition to Texas. In 2023, through a series of suspicious rulings, Hernandez was granted his freedom and has been living free in Mexico. He was able to halt any extradition measures through a series of rulings given by the two judges who are now under investigation.

As Breitbart Texas reported, Hernandez Flores is facing various federal money laundering charges out of the Southern District of Texas. The politician is accused of funneling cartel bribes. He is also accused of embezzling government funds, transferring them to the United States, and using them to purchase property.

Hernandez is one of two former governors from Tamaulipas accused of having taken cartel bribes in exchange for protecting the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas. Due to widespread corruption in Mexico, Hernandez Flores and his predecessor, Tomas Yarrington Ruvalcaba, were able to live a life of luxury in Mexico and even had police bodyguards while being wanted fugitives in Texas, Breitbart Texas reported.

U.S. federal authorities eventually arrested Yarrington, who had been hiding out in Italy in 2017. Since then, that former governor was moved to the U.S., where he pleaded guilty and received an 108-month prison sentence. Last year, U.S. federal authorities deported Yarrington to Mexico after he had served most of his sentence. Since then, the Mexican politician has been facing a trial on other organized crime charges in Mexico, Breitbart Texas reported.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart News Foundation. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com. 

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.