A Donna, Texas man was sentenced to 10 months in federal prison this week after throwing a black Yeti coffee cup that struck a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in the head during a construction-site inspection last December. Reynaldo Cisneros, 47, was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine alongside the prison term, which Chief U.S. District Judge Randy Crane handed down Tuesday in McAllen.
A Raid Interrupts a Home Build
According to valleycentral.com, Cisneros was building a home in Donna in December 2025 when ICE decided to conduct what the outlet described as immigration inspections. Officers with Enforcement and Removal Operations, a branch of ICE, arrived at the construction site on Dec. 30, 2025. Several workers at the site attempted to hide inside the house under construction once officers showed up, according to BorderReport.
Officers warned Cisneros to get back, but he ignored them, per the criminal complaint cited by the same outlet. During the scuffle that followed, Cisneros threw the black Yeti cup, which hit an officer in the head. BorderReport reports that the cup left a red mark on the officer, citing the criminal complaint.
Guilty Plea and a Fight Over the Penalty
Cisneros was charged with assaulting a federal officer and pleaded guilty in July, the station's report notes. At sentencing, his attorney, Sergio J. Sanchez, pushed back on the severity of the case, arguing prosecutors never proved the cup caused serious bodily injury. “There was no evidence,” Sanchez said. “They weren't able to prove serious bodily injury, so they withdrew that part.”
Federal sentencing guidelines published by the U.S. Sentencing Commission called for 8 to 14 months in prison, the same account states. Judge Crane landed near the middle of that range, sentencing Cisneros to 10 months and the $5,000 fine. Under 18 U.S.C. § 111, the federal statute covering assaults on officers performing official duties, the maximum penalty for a forcible assault of this kind is a fine of not more than $5,000 or imprisonment of not more than three years, or both, according to the U.S. Code, Office of the Law Revision Counsel.
The case, first reported locally by valleycentral.com, was also detailed by the San Antonio Express-News, which covered the sentencing as part of its ongoing courthouse reporting out of South Texas.
