However, de la Cruz Reyna said the statement was false and claimed he did not know they were U.S. agents when the incident occurred. The defense stated that de la Cruz Reyna was not a major figure in the Gulf Cartel and that he backed off from the standoff as soon as the U.S. agents identified themselves. His lawyer stated that de la Cruz Reyna was simply a bodyguard for the cartel and did not give orders during the standoff. "If they had been three Canadian tourists or Winter Texans, they would have probably been asked, 'Why are you passing by our house so many times?', his attorney told the judge, in reference to the U.S. agents surveillance of Cárdenas Guillén's house the day of the standoff. De la Cruz Reyna was facing up to five years in prison for each assault charge. The sentence also carried a US$250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. On 3 July 2009, de la Cruz Reyna was sentenced to a -year term in prison for the assault charges. His fines were waived because of to his inability to pay them, and he was prohibited from lawfully re-entering the U.S. upon his release. He was imprisoned at the federal penitentiary in Atlanta, Georgia. De la Cruz Reyna was the first person convicted from the Matamoros standoff. On 14 March 2012, the month de la Cruz Reyna was expected to be released from prison, he was re-arrested on bribery charges. According to S.D. Tex. attorney Kenneth Magidson, de la Cruz Reyna and several of his accomplices tried to bribe a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) undercover agent to ensure safe passage to Mexico upon his release. They also asked the official to ensure that de la Cruz Reyna's release was not revealed to Mexican authorities, and that he be allowed to see his family while in prison. According to U.S. authorities, around May 2011, de la Cruz Reyna's associate, Julio Torres, began negotiating bribery payments with the undercover agent to arrange for de la Cruz Reyna's release in Matamoros to members of the Gulf Cartel. De la Cruz Reyna was worried that upon his release to Mexico, he faced possible re-arrest by Mexican authorities or capture by rival drug gangs if released in another location in Mexico. The undercover agent was paid US$4,000 to arrange for de la Cruz Reyna's transfer to Texas, and spoke with him over the phone to discuss the payment and arrange for additional payments.