YOU’RE WATCHING KOAT ACTION SEVEN NEWS. THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT INDICTING 14 PEOPLE FROM TEXAS AND NEW MEXICO TODAY IN WHAT PROSECUTORS CALL A LARGE SCALE OIL THEFT CONSPIRACY IN THE PERMIAN BASIN, ACCORDING TO THE U.S. ATTORNEY’S OFFICE. OIL WAS STOLEN FROM PRODUCERS IN EASTERN NEW MEXICO, THEN STORED ON LAND LEASED FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND LATER SOLD AT LOWER THA
A total of 14 federally charged in Permian Basin oil theft case
The indictment accuses several of stealing crude oil from producers in eastern New Mexico, some of which was stolen from land leased by the federal government.
More than a dozen suspects, from Texas and Lovington, are accused and charged federally of stealing oil and selling it from the Permian Basin.The federal indictment states that 14 defendants allegedly conspired to transport stolen crude oil across the New Mexico Texas border. The crude oil stolen was found to be from the eastern New Mexico portion of the Permian Basin.That oil was found to be sold to others at prices below West Texas Intermediate pricing, which is used to price crude oil for much of the U.S.Each face a maximum penalty of five years in prison for conspiracy and ten years on each count of interstate transportation of stolen property. Below is a list of the 14 defendants provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas.New Mexico defendantsEach of the suspects are from Lovington• 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• Danny Dale Brown Jr., 42Defendants based in Texas• Randell Wayne Reid, 41, of Electra, Texas, owner of Reidco Enterprises, a Texas-based company• James Darrell Reid, 65, of Electra, owner of Reidco Enterprises• Christopher Frederick Harris, 22, of Seminole, Texas
More than a dozen suspects, from Texas and Lovington, are accused and charged federally of stealing oil and selling it from the Permian Basin.
The federal indictment states that 14 defendants allegedly conspired to transport stolen crude oil across the New Mexico Texas border. The crude oil stolen was found to be from the eastern New Mexico portion of the Permian Basin.
That oil was found to be sold to others at prices below West Texas Intermediate pricing, which is used to price crude oil for much of the U.S.
Each face a maximum penalty of five years in prison for conspiracy and ten years on each count of interstate transportation of stolen property. Below is a list of the 14 defendants provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas.
New Mexico defendants
Each of the suspects are from Lovington
• 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
• Danny Dale Brown Jr., 42
Defendants based in Texas
• Randell Wayne Reid, 41, of Electra, Texas, owner of Reidco Enterprises, a Texas-based company
• James Darrell Reid, 65, of Electra, owner of Reidco Enterprises
• Christopher Frederick Harris, 22, of Seminole, Texas
