Three Texans arrested as part of large-scale oil theft operation

WICHITA FALLS, Texas (KAUZ) - Three Texans have been arrested as part of a major oil theft conspiracy in the Permian Basin.

41-year-old Randell Wayne Reid, 65-year-old James Darrell Reid, and 22-year-old Christopher Fredrick Harris were among fourteen total defendants involved in this operation, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Texas.

Jail records show that both Randell and James Reid were arrested in Wichita County.

According to the indictment returned on April 8, all 14 defendants allegedly conspired to transport stolen crude oil across the New Mexico-Texas border.

United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Ryan Raybould said 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.

The other eleven defendants in this case include the following from New Mexico:

• 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
• Danny Dale Brown Jr

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Texas, 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.