A Former Mexican drug lord has been sentenced 25 years in prison and made to forfeit $US50 million of his personal fortune by a federal court in Texas.
Houston, TX - Osiel Cardenas, 42, who formerly headed Mexico's notorious Gulf cartel, was arrested in Mexico in 2003 and extradited in 2007 to the US, where he has been held behind bars without parole.
Today's sentence followed previously-entered Cardenas pleas of guilty to five charges including drug trafficking, money laundering and threatening to kill federal agents, the department said in a statement.
US District Judge Hilda Tagle in Houston, Texas, sentenced Cardenas to 25 years without parole in federal prison, and fined him $US100,000.
In addition, ``the court entered a preliminary order of forfeiture imposing a personal money judgment against Cardenas in favor of the United States in the amount of $US50 million.''
Former Gulf cartel leader Osiel Cardenas being extradited to the US in 2007.
The US government said more than 2000kg of cocaine seized in the US between July 2000 and September 2001 were attributable to Cardenas's cartel.
Drug ledgers seized showed the group made $US41 million from selling drugs in Atlanta, Georgia, in a 3.5-month period of 2001.
Cardenas was also linked to death threats made to US law enforcement officials working undercover during his three-year investigation, the Justice Department said.
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The man is now free.
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