Rustled up in the indictments of 14 defendants are accusations of the stealing of crude oil and its movement across states.

LUBBOCK, Texas — It’s a story that may eventually hit the notebook of Taylor Sheridan, if it isn’t there already. 

As Texas knows, Landmen are real, and so are bandits, and when they meet, a lot of money can be involved, and that will naturally bring on attention from the federal government. 

In an announcement released Wednesday, the Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas announced a widespread indictment of 14 suspects said to have conspired in the stealing and transport of crude oil across the New Mexico-Texas border. A federal grand jury in Lubbock returned the indictment on April 8.



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Of the 14 indicted, three are based in Texas and 11 in New Mexico — Randell Wayne Reid, 41, and James Darrel Reid, 65, both of Electra, Texas and owners of Reidco Enterprises, are named as defendants, as is Christopher Fredrick Harris, 22, of Seminole, according to federal officials. 

The conspiracy involving the defendants is said to involve several people stealing oil from producers in the Eastern New Mexico region of the Permian Basin. Some of the oil was stored on land that one of the defendants leased from the federal government. That oil would later be sold to others mentioned in the indictment at a price significantly less than West Texas Intermediate, or WTI, prices. WTI is used to price crude oil in the Permian Basin and throughout much of the United States, according to the indictment.

The Permian Basin extends across 86,000 square miles in West Texas and Southeastern New Mexico; it stands as the largest oil-producing region in the country and accounts for the majority of all U.S. crude oil production. The DOJ case looks to prove that the conspirators involved knew the oil was stolen and knowingly transported it across state lines for sale at a profit.

A maximum penalty of five years in prison is possible for the defendants if convicted, while up to 10 years in federal prison could come on each count of interstate transportation of the stolen oil, along with its receipt, possession or sale. 

A number of Texas and New Mexico local law enforcement agencies assisted in the investigation led by the Bureau of Land Management, the FBI and the Texas Department of Public Safety.