Former Quintana Roo Governor Roberto Borge Acquitted of Organized Crime, Granted House Arrest

Mexico City — A judge has acquitted former Quintana Roo Governor Roberto Borge Angulo of organized crime charges, a ruling that allows him to leave the Federal Center for Psychosocial Rehabilitation (Ceferepsi) in Morelos and serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest for money laundering.

Sources close to the family confirmed that with the organized crime charge dropped — an offense that by law requires pretrial detention and prohibits any form of residential confinement — the former governor can now request a change of his custodial measure for the only remaining federal charge: operations with resources of illicit origin, or money laundering.

Because money laundering allows for judicial proceedings outside a prison using monitoring mechanisms such as electronic ankle bracelets and home confinement, Borge’s legal team has reportedly begun the paperwork for his transfer.

The former governor is currently undergoing rigorous medical checks in Morelos, a necessary step before he can formally leave the prison and travel to Cozumel, where he will reunite with his family to serve his house arrest.

With this ruling, Borge becomes the second former Quintana Roo governor in recent history to be placed under house arrest. Former Governor Mario Villanueva Madrid is also serving a similar form of restricted confinement.

Roberto Borge, who governed Quintana Roo from 2011 to 2016, was arrested on June 4, 2017, at Tocumen International Airport in Panama as he attempted to board a flight to Paris, France. After an extradition process, he was transferred to Mexico in January 2018 to face federal and state charges.

The Federal Prosecutor’s Office (FGR) and state authorities accused the former governor of multiple serious crimes committed during his tenure. Among the most prominent allegations was the sale of state land: 24 plots from the state’s territorial reserve, located in prime tourist areas, were sold to relatives and front men at prices estimated at just 1% of their actual market value.

He was also accused of irregularities in air transport, involving the alleged diversion of more than 1 billion pesos through the state-owned company VIP Servicios Aéreos Ejecutivos S.A. de C.V. (VIP Saesa), which was used to sublease aircraft for private and political purposes.

In addition to these federal charges, Borge faced several state-level investigations by the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office for embezzlement, illicit use of power, and irregular performance of public duties.

Borge successfully fought all those charges, leaving money laundering as the only remaining count against him.

The money laundering case will now proceed under supervised house arrest, with the organized crime charge — which had prevented his release — removed from the docket.