Benjamin Arellano Felix, who headed the Tijuana cartel until 2002, has pleaded guilty to racketeering and money-laundering conspiracy charges in U.S. federal court in San Diego, California, prosecutors said.

Arellano Felix, who was extradited from Mexico in April 2011, faces up to 25 years in prison, a maximum fine of $500,000 for both charges and the forfeiture of $100 million in assets obtained from his illicit activities, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California said Wednesday.

The former drug lord, who is due to be sentenced in April, had initially pleaded not guilty to the charges in an arraignment in May 2011.