LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – A federal grand jury indicted 14 defendants from Texas and New Mexico for their roles in a large-scale oil theft conspiracy in the Permian Basin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Ryan Raybould announced.
The indictment charges each defendant with conspiracy to transport stolen property in interstate commerce. Several defendants are also charged with interstate transportation of stolen property, and receipt, possession or sale of stolen property.
According to the indictment returned on April 8, all 14 defendants allegedly conspired to transport stolen crude oil across the New Mexico-Texas border.
The indictment alleges several defendants stole crude oil from oil producers in the Eastern New Mexico region of the Permian Basin. Some of the stolen oil was stored on land that one of the conspirators leased from the United States government. That conspirator then sold the stolen crude oil to others in the conspiracy at prices significantly below West Texas Intermediate pricing, the benchmark used to price crude oil in the Permian Basin and much of the United States.
The charges state the conspirators, knowing the crude oil was stolen, then transported the oil across the New Mexico-Texas border for further sale at a profit.
Texas defendants are Randell Wayne Reid of Electra, owner of Reidco Enterprises, James Darrell Reid of Electra, owner of Reidco Enterprises and Christopher Frederick Harris of Seminole.
Lovington, New Mexico, defendants are Louis George Edgett, Brenden Floyd Strickland, Sixto Herrera-Estebane, Gyardo Gonzalez, Jesus Martin Hernandez-Borja, Diana Marquez Rojo, Jose Luis Rojo, Jose Mario Rivas-Mendoza, Miguel A. Soto, Tavares Montrail Cole and Danny Dale Brown Jr.
If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison on the conspiracy charge and up to 10 years in federal prison on each count of interstate transportation of stolen property, and receipt, possession or sale of stolen property.
The Permian Basin is a sedimentary shale basin spanning over 86,000 square miles in Southeastern New Mexico and West Texas. It is the largest oil-producing region in the United States and accounts for the majority of all U.S. crude oil production.
The Bureau of Land Management, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Texas Department of Public Safety-Criminal Investigation Division, Lea County, New Mexico Sheriff’s Office and the Eddy County, New Mexico Sheriff’s Office conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ann Howey is prosecuting the case.
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