A Texas businessman must serve 10 years in a U.S. prison for a $100 million trade scam involving shoes smuggled across the border without paying Mexican tariffs.
Jose Luis Rodriguez of El Paso was sentenced Friday by a federal judge in El Paso. The 53-year-old Rodriguez in August pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering. Rodriguez also must forfeit about $650,000.
Rodriguez owned El Paso-based ERENE Inc. Three other people, including two employees, earlier pleaded guilty to conspiracy-related charges and were sentenced to terms ranging from probation to a year in prison.
Investigators say two other suspects remain at large in the scam operating between 2006 and 2014 that also involved bribing Mexican custom officials.
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