De los Reyes spent this time mediating in labor disputes and other union-organizing activities. The press at this time called him a "Malay Lerroux" and compared him to Spanish labor leader Pablo Iglesias. On August 16, 1902, he was arrested on the trumped-up charge that he gave orders to assassinate scabs in a strike at the Commercial Tobacco Factory. De los Reyes was eventually released on January 30, 1903 by Governor William Howard Taft, stating that the statute "was not in line with current American thinking on the subject". While in prison, de los Reyes tendered his resignation from the UOD on September 14 and was replaced by Dominador Gomez.