Fronteras

The former Mexican mayor of a small town near the Arizona border was sentenced to more than 20 years in prison for his role in a drug trafficking case in the U.S.

Arturo Reyes Trujillo was sentenced to 262 months, nearly 22 years, in prison this week. He pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to cocaine trafficking and money laundering.

Reyes was the incoming mayor for the town of Fronteras in the Mexican state of Sonora. He was a member of the conservative PAN political party and he was scheduled to take office in September 2012 when he suddenly disappeared.

As it turned out, Trujillo was quietly arrested by Mexican police on a U.S. warrant just days before becoming mayor.

Prosecutors alleged he fled the U.S. to live in Mexico after he was indicted here. He was finally extradited back to Arizona in 2014.

Read The 2008 Indictment