More indictments in West Texas oil theft case
More people have been indicted in a West Texas oil field theft case.
Last month, after a lengthy multi-agency investigation into an alleged criminal network trafficking stolen petroleum products, six people were arrested in four west Texas counties. Authorities seized more than $12 million in petroleum products, luxury goods, cars and cash. State charges are being prosecuted by the 143rd Judicial District Attorney Sarah Stogner.
The state-led investigation focused on Texas-based Vallee Oil and Gas, a wastewater disposal company, suspected of participating in the organized theft and trafficking of petroleum products in Reeves, Rockwall, Kaufman and Hunt counties. The Texas Department of Public Safety’s Criminal Investigations Division’s Organized Oilfield Theft Prevention Unit led the state investigation working with multiple law enforcement partners, The Center Square reported.
On Tuesday, U.S. Attorney Justin Simmons for the Western District of Texas announced that three people have been indicted in a separate federal case involving the same company. They include Vallee Oil and Gas President Leandro Juarez, its director of west Texas operations, Moses Juarez, and principal yard manager Eduardo Lopez. They were each indicted on several counts related to oil field theft.
“The fraud ran deep in this case but, essentially, these defendants were just common thieves stealing from those who had spilled their blood, sweat and tears to extract that oil from the ground,” Simmons said in a statement. “When costs for oil and gas producers go up, the cost for the end purchase – the American taxpayer – also goes up. That’s why we will continue, through this whole of government approach, to take down and hold accountable those who steal oil from other producers.”
The FBI began investigating Vallee Oil & Gas in January 2024, according to the complaint. Its investigation found that between Sept. 20, 2023, and Feb. 18, 2025, the three men devised and executed a scheme to purchase and receive crude oil that had been stolen from locations in the Permian Basin in southeastern New Mexico and were transported across state lines into Texas, according to the complaint.
Vallee’s employees were directed to pay drivers who transported the stolen crude oil half the value, according to court documents. In March and April 2024 alone, Vallee employees were directed to issue more than $290,000 to a single driver in amounts below $10,000 to evade federal financial reporting requirements, the charges allege.
“Those who knowingly purchase, move, or profit from stolen oil and other products help create the demand that drives these crimes” FBI El Paso-Midland Supervisory Senior Resident Agent Briton Goad said in a statement. “We will continue working with our partners to identify those individuals and businesses and hold them accountable.”
Each defendant was charged with one count of conspiracy to receive stolen goods and three counts of receipt of stolen goods, aiding and abetting. Leandro and Moses Juarez were also charged with one count of “conspiracy to engage in monetary transactions with funds derived from a specified unlawful activity.”
All three were arraigned and released on bond this month although Simmons did not make the announcement until Tuesday. A plea agreement deadline is Oct. 16, his office said. If the defendants choose to go to trial, jury selection is scheduled for Nov. 2.
The FBI is investigating the case with assistance from the Texas DPS, the Texas Railroad Commission, and sheriff’s offices of Loving and Reeves counties.
Stogner has argued oil theft prosecutions are “historic and only the beginning. Oil thieves leave a trail of victims. Oil theft hurts hard working people. It leads to loss of jobs, loss of tax revenue, budget shortfalls for schools, hospitals and other vital services” that depend on oil and gas tax revenue.
She also said, “In the past, law enforcement and authorities turned a blind eye to this kind of crime. Some have called it ‘the cost of doing business in oil and gas.’ but they are wrong. It must be stopped.”
A Dallas Federal Reserve’s third-quarter 2025 Energy Survey reported that 41% of oil and gas executives said oilfield theft affected their operations in 2024.
“Industry officials estimate that oil field theft costs Texas operators potentially billions of dollars annually,” Texas Railroad Commissioner Wayne Christian said. “In the Permian Basin alone, an FBI-led task force estimated that operators lose up to $300,000 per month to the theft of tools, pipes and valves.”
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