An American oil mogul and his family have been detained under accusations of collaborating with Mexican cartels to illegally import over $300 million in crude oil into the United States.

James Laen Jensen, aged 68, along with his spouse, Kelly Anne Jensen, were apprehended last month at their $9.1 million estate in Utah during a coordinated operation spanning multiple states. The operation also led to the arrests of their sons, Maxwell and Zachary, in Texas, as reported by My San Antonio.

Federal prosecutors allege the family breached the US Tariff Act by illicitly importing 2,881 shipments of oil from Mexico—valued at a minimum of $300 million—under the false pretense of being ‘waste of lube oils’ and ‘petroleum distillates’ starting in May 2022, as disclosed by ABC 4.

The family was allegedly able to smuggle the crude oil into the country via barges docked outside their Texas facility, Arroyo Terminals, near the Mexican border.

All of the crude oil was reportedly stolen by drug cartels from PEMEX – Mexico’s nationalized oil company.

‘The payments for this crude oil were directed to businesses in Mexico that operate only through the permission of [a] Mexican criminal organization,’ federal prosecutors allege in court documents obtained by KSL.

‘James Jensen was aware that the payments he made were going to these Mexican criminal organizations,’ they continued. 

A warrant for James’ arrest even claims he paid over $47 million to these dangerous criminal entities. 

James and Kelly were ultimately arrested on April 23, following an investigation by he US Drug Enforcement Agency, FBI, the Criminal Investigations division of the IRS and Homeland Security Investigations.

When US Marshals arrived at his 26,893 mansion in Sandy, Utah, prosecutors say the couple was unwilling to follow law enforcements’ demands to come out – forcing Marshals to use a battering ram to break down the door, Valley Central reports. 

Meanwhile, other agents raided Arroyo Terminal in Texas, where they reportedly placed employees in handcuffs and questioned them about the business.

One unidentified employee told Valley Central that the FBI agents then asked them whether the crude oil had been stolen.

‘We don’t know anything about that,’ the employee said. ‘We’re just in charge of unloading the trucks and loading the barges.’

Another employee added that, ‘When it comes to the aspect of knowing where the oil’s coming from or what company or what part of Mexico or anything like that, we were always out of the loop.’

In the end, the agents reportedly took documents from the building and requested passwords for the computers.

‘When I went into the office to use the restroom, I did hear the FBI high-five and say: “We got ’em,”‘ a third employee claimed.

James is now facing charges of money laundering conspiracy, aiding and abetting smuggling of goods into the United States, aiding and abetting the entry of goods by means of false statements, money laundering spending conspiracy and money laundering spending.

The other members of his family are each facing one to three of the counts.

They have each pleaded not guilty to the charges against them. 

In court, Assistant US Attorney Laura Garcia asked US Magistrate Judge Ignacio Torteya III to hold Maxwell – who co-owns Arroyo Terminals with his father – without bond, saying he worked closely with ‘cartel-affiliated businesses’ and frequently travels to the Bahamas, where the family has a property.

Torteya ultimately agreed, holding Maxwell without bond, as he set bond for his brother – who handled the company’s marketing and business development – at $100,000 with a $10,000 cash deposit.

He now must remain at home and submit to GPS monitoring. 

Similarly in Utah, Dustin B Pead, the chief magistrate judge for the United States District of Utah, decided to allow James and Kelly to remain at home and submit to GPS monitoring after their lawyers successfully argued they were upstanding citizens.

‘They’re active in their church, they’re active in their community, they come from a stalwart Utah family,’ attorney John Huber argued, noting that Kelly’s parents ‘have served in public service for decades.

‘And they don’t want to throw all that all out of the window,’ he pleaded in court.

Kelly’s father, Gordon Walker, served in the Department of Housing and Urban Development under former President Ronald Reagan and her mother, Carlene Walker, served in the Utah State Senate.

Pead then released the couple without setting bond.

‘I’m counting on what your attorneys have said here today – that you are the upstanding people that your attorneys state you are,’ he warned the couple, as he ordered them to turn over their passports and regularly report to their pretrial officer.

They were also forced to forfeit any money gained from the smuggled oil – including their company, an additional home listed for the family in Draper, Utah as well as bank accounts and new cars totaling $300 million. 

Yet this is not the first time James of buying stolen petroleum products.

In 2011, PEMEX Exploration and Production filed a suit against him, claiming he and two businesses he owned – Big Star Gathering and St. James Oil – had purchased stolen natural gas condensate.

‘At times, Jensen would travel to Mexico to arrange purchases from the cartels who had stolen the condensate,’ the lawsuit alleged, according to Valley Central.

James denied any wrongdoing, but admitted Big Star had business dealings with an oil company executive who had stolen natural gas condensate.

All of the transactions happened before that executive pleaded guilty, he said in an affidavit at the time.

Meanwhile, attorney’s for his other business, St. James Oil, urged a judge to dismiss the case.

‘St. James’s business reputation and creditworthiness suffer every day that it continues to be named in a lawsuit alleging participation in a drug cartel-related conspiracy,’ it argued in a motion.

PEMEX ultimately dropped the suit in 2013, after two years of litigation. 

But if any of the family members are now found guilty of the charges against them, they could face a maximum of 20 years in federal lockup and fines of up to $500,000.