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April 3, 2009
Exclusive: Mexican Thug Pleads Guilty to Assaulting U.S. Law Enforcement Officers
Juan Carlos De La Cruz Reyna, 36, of Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico, has pleaded guilty to two counts of threatening to assault and murder federal agents, according to a report obtained by the National Association of Chiefs of Police.
The guilty plea was entered at a hearing before United States District Judge Jilda G. Tagle in Houston. The charges against De La Cruz Reyna arose out of an alleged encounter in November 1999 between members of the Gulf Cartel, including Oziel Cardenas-Guillen, the then head of the Gulf Cartel, and a DEA agent and an FBI agent.
At Monday’s hearing, De La Cruz Reyna admitted he and others were stopped the agents as they drove through Matamoros on official business. While stopped, the agents were threatened at gunpoint by De La Cruz Reyna, who was armed with an assault rifle, and others.
Cardenas-Guillen, who was present at the scene, allegedly threatened the agents even after one of the agents identified himself as a United States law enforcement agent. Eventually, the agents were allowed to leave but warned never to return to Matamoros.
De La Cruz Reyna is scheduled for sentencing on July 3, 2009, at 9:00 a.m. He faces a maximum of five years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine and a three-year-term of supervised release on each count.
A co-defendant, Ruben Sauceda-Rivera, 42, of Matamoros, also pleaded guilty to engaging in a conspiracy to launder monetary instruments before Judge Tagle on Monday. During the course of Sauceda-Rivera’s involvement in the money laundering conspiracy from November 1998 until April 2002, he became the assistant to “Noventa,” the bookkeeper for the cartel.
As his assistant, Sauceda-Rivera assisted Noventa in collecting and accounting for millions of dollars in drug proceeds collected in places such as Houston and Atlanta, which were then transported to the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas, and from there into Mexico. Drug ledgers seized in Atlanta in June 2001 show that in an approximate three-month period, the Gulf Cartel distributed a minimum of 2,927 kilograms of cocaine generating more than $41 million.
Sauceda-Rivera, who is also scheduled for sentencing on July 3, faces up to 20 years imprisonment, a fine of $500,000 or not more than twice the value of the funds laundered, whichever is greater, and a three-year-term of supervised release.
De La Cruz Reyna and Sauceda-Rivera have been in federal custody since their arrest and will remain in federal custody pending sentencing.
In addition to these two defendants, eight others are charged with various counts: Oziel Cardenas-Guillen, 41, of Mexico; Adan Medrano, 39, of Mexico; Victor Manuel Vasquez-Mireles, 41, of Mexico; Jorge Costilla-Sanchez, 37, of Mexico; Juan Gilberto Reyes, of Mexico; Rafael Betancourt-Velez, 38, of Mexico; Rogelio Pizana Gonzalez, 35, of Mexico; and Baldomero Gonzalez Ruiz, 50, of Mexico.
Cardenas-Guillen is currently in custody in the United States without bond and is set for final pretrial and jury selection on Aug. 31, 2009, and Sept. 8, 2009, respectively, while the other suspects are remain fugitives.
The investigation leading to the charges was conducted by special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Department of Homeland Security.
FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor Jim Kouri, CPP is currently vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and a staff writer for the New Media Alliance . Feedback: editorialdirector@familysecuritymatters.org.
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