(The Center Square) – U.S. attorneys across the country are playing a key role in the Trump administration’s targeting of cartel-connected crime.
In a case spanning several states, a Utah father and son were charged with conspiring to materially support a Mexican cartel and foreign terrorist organization (FTO) by engaging in oil theft in south Texas. The charges also include conspiracy to commit money laundering and related smuggling charges.
The case is part of an ongoing border-related crime problem stretching from oil field theft in west Texas to illicit crude oil smuggling and theft along the Texas-Mexico border, The Center Square reported.
Maxwell Sterling Jensen, 25, and James Lael Jensen, 68, of Draper and Sandy, Utah, respectively, were charged with conspiring to provide material support (U.S. currency) to the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG). The Trump administration designated CJNG, other Mexican cartels and transnational criminal organizations and violent gangs as foreign terrorist organizations in February, The Center Square reported.
“This case underscores the more aggressive and innovative approach the Southern District of Texas is taking towards combatting the scourge of drug cartels,” U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas Nicholas Ganjei said. “This strategy focuses not just on the traffickers and trigger-pullers directly employed by the cartels, but also targeting their confederates and enablers. Whether you are handing the cartel a gun, providing a car or safehouse for smugglers, or putting money in the cartel’s pocket, you will be held to account.”
The Jensens operated Arroyo Terminals in Rio Hondo, Texas, according to federal authorities. The company claims it “specializes in the domestic and cross-border acquisition of crude oil,” according to its website. However, an investigation into the company resulted in federal agents raiding its facilities in April.
“What began as a Drug Enforcement Administration drug trafficking investigation evolved into a multifaceted case involving an alleged complex criminal operation generating millions of dollars from crude oil – the largest funding source for Mexican drug cartels,” DEA-Houston Acting Special Agent in Charge William Kimbell said. “Given the charges have profound implications for both the United States and Mexico, we will continue to explore all leads and identify any believed to be involved. The collaboration with federal law enforcement, prosecutors, and state agencies proved critical to unraveling these alleged crimes and will continue until such operations are destroyed.”
The Jensens’ involvement entailed “entering into agreements with conspirators – unindicted conspirators – to bring mislabeled crude oil from Mexico into the United States,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Hess said at a hearing in Utah in April.
The father and son were also charged with “allegedly conspiring to conduct financial transactions to conceal and disguise the nature and source of the proceeds of illegally smuggled goods, crude oil,” aiding and abetting “the fraudulent entry of approximately 2,881 shipments of the oil in violation of the Tariff Act,” according to the recently unsealed indictment.
Indictments were dismissed against two other family members last week, Kelly Anne Jensen and Zachary Golden Jensen “in the interest of justice,” KVEO-Brownsville reported.
At the time of the Jensens’ initial arrests, authorities seized four tank barges of crude oil, three commercial tanker trucks, an Arroyo Terminal pickup truck and one personal vehicle, according to the charges. Additional tanks, real property and other items on the property are also being sought for forfeiture, authorities said.
Multiple law enforcement partners were involved in the investigation, including the FBI, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, DEA, IRS Criminal Investigations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Marshals Service.
“Cases like this highlight the often-dangerous relationships between alleged unscrupulous U.S. businesses and terrorist organizations,” ICE-HSI-San Antonio Special Agent in Charge Craig Larrabee said. “Through strong collaborations and relentless investigative work, we and our partners exposed a possible large-scale operation that allegedly attempted to move millions in illicit crude oil and launder the proceeds.”
IRS Criminal Investigation special agents used forensic accounting to identify an alleged money trail and “shut down the flow of cash,” as they do with other cases focusing on drug cartel and organized crime activities, IRS CI-Houston acting Special Agent in Charge Lucy Tan said.
The providing material support and committing money laundering charges each carry a prison sentence of up to 20 years. The aiding and abetting the smuggling of goods and making false statements charges carry up to 10 years in prison. James Jensen also faces one count of money laundering spending, which carries an additional 10-year prison sentence, if convicted.
The money laundering charge carries a fine of $500,000 or up to twice the value of the property involved; other counts carry a maximum fine of $250,000. The superseding indictment states that the federal government is seeking a $300 million money judgment upon conviction.
