Crime
14 Indicted In Crude Oil Theft And Resale Conspiracy In Texas
Fourteen people from New Mexico and Texas have been indicted by a Texas grand jury for their alleged roles in a “large-scale oil theft conspiracy,” authorities said.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas announced the charges Wednesday against a group of defendants who allegedly operated a crude oil theft scheme in the Permian Basin, which spans parts of western Texas and southeastern New Mexico.
According to the indictment, all 14 defendants allegedly conspired to transport stolen crude oil across the Texas–New Mexico border for their own profit. Several of the defendants allegedly stole crude from oil producers in the New Mexico region of the Permian Basin. Some of that oil was allegedly stored on land one of the defendants leased from the U.S. government. That defendant allegedly sold the stolen oil to other defendants.
The stolen oil was allegedly sold at prices well below West Texas Intermediate (WTI) prices. WTI is the benchmark for pricing crude oil from the Permian Basin and elsewhere in the United States.
The conspirators then allegedly transported the oil across the state border for further sale at a profit.
Three defendants are based in Texas; 22-year-old Christopher Frederick Harris; 41-year-old Randell Wayne Reid, owner of Reidco Enterprises; and 65-year-old James Darrell Reid, also an owner of Reidco Enterprises.
The remaining defendants are all based in New Mexico: Louis George Edgett, 68; Brenden Floyd Strickland, 25; Sixto Herrera-Estebane, 43; Gyardo Gonzalez, 47; Jesus Martin Hernandez-Borja, 51; Diana Marquez Rojo, 45; Jose Luis Rojo, 49; Jose Mario Rivas-Mendoza, 37; Miguel A. Soto, 41; Tavares Montrail Cole, 48; and Danny Dale Brown Jr., 42.
Each of the defendants is charged with conspiracy to transport stolen property in interstate commerce, and several defendants are also charged with interstate transportation of stolen property, and receipt, possession, or sale of stolen property.
If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison on the conspiracy charge and up to ten years in federal prison on each count of interstate transportation of stolen property, and receipt, possession, or sale of stolen property.
