Fourteen people are indicted in connection with an oil theft ring in the Permian Basin stretching from Texas to New Mexico.
The federal grand jury in Lubbock accuses the 14 of stealing the crude oil in eastern New Mexico and hauling it to Texas to resell at cut-rate prices.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas said the defendants are charged with conspiracy to transport stolen property across state lines as well as several counts of interstate transportation and receipt, possession, or sale of stolen property.
Prosecutors contend some of the oil was stolen from storage sites on U.S. government-leased land. Two of the defendants are from the small Texas town of Electra, Texas located about 25 miles west of Wichita Falls, Texas and just south of the state line with Oklahoma. They are identified as James Darrell Reid, 65, and Randell Wayne Reid, 41. The two are described as owners of Reidco Enterprises. A third Texan, Christopher Frederick Harris, 22, of Seminole, a town about 80 miles west of Midland, was also named in the indictments.
The other 11 defendants are from Lovington, New Mexico and were identified as:
- 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.
The indictment alleges that several defendants stole crude oil from oil producers in the Eastern New Mexico region of the Permian Basin, some of which was then 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 (“WTI”) pricing. WTI is the benchmark used to price crude oil in the Permian Basin and much of the United States. The charges further state that the conspirators, knowing the crude oil was stolen, then transported the oil across the New Mexico-Texas border for further sale at a profit.
Prosecutors say the scheme targeted the Permian Basin’s vast production network, the oil‑rich region spanning southeastern New Mexico and West Texas that covers more than 86,000 square miles and accounts for the majority of U.S. crude oil production.
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.
The Permian Basin is a vast 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.
An indictment is merely an allegation of criminal conduct, not evidence. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.