Fourteen people from Texas and New Mexico have been indicted in a large-scale oil theft conspiracy in the Permian Basin, federal prosecutors said.
A federal grand jury in Lubbock charged the defendants with conspiracy to transport stolen property in interstate commerce. Several also face additional counts, including transporting, receiving, possessing or selling stolen property.
According to the indictment, the group stole crude oil from producers in eastern New Mexico and moved it across the Texas-New Mexico border to sell for profit. Some of the oil was allegedly stored on federally leased land before being sold within the conspiracy at prices well below West Texas Intermediate benchmarks.
Prosecutors say the conspirators knew the oil was stolen as they transported it into Texas for resale.
Among those charged are Randell Wayne Reid and James Darrell Reid of Electra, Texas, owners of Reidco Enterprises, an oil services company located outside Wichita Falls.
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.
