Federal Grand Jury Charges Five in Multi-State Investigation
A federal grand jury in El Paso, Texas, has indicted five men accused of stealing tens of thousands of dollars in crude oil from a storage yard in Carlsbad, New Mexico.
The defendants—Maxwell Sterling Jensen, Thomas Rees, Christopher Ortega, Christian Contreras Varela, and German Ortiz Santillano—face charges of conspiracy, interstate transportation of stolen property, and aiding and abetting in connection with a months-long oil theft operation.
Thefts Spanned Multiple Permian Basin Sites
Crude Oil Stolen and Sold from Carlsbad Yard
According to the FBI investigation, the thefts occurred between March 12 and August 22, 2025, and involved crude oil stolen from production sites across the Permian Basin in southeastern New Mexico…