Utah oil tycoon family accused of conspiring with Mexican cartel on Trump’s foreign terrorist list
Oil magnate James Jensen and his son Maxwell allegedly trafficked 2,900 shipments of stolen crude oil into the U.S.
A wealthy Utah family that made its fortune in oil has been accused of conspiring with Mexican cartels in an elaborate, multimillion-dollar oil smuggling scheme.
Last month, James Jensen, 68, and his wife Kelly, 54, were arrested at their $9.2 million mansion in Sandy, located in the Salt Lake City suburbs, while their sons, Maxwell, 29, and Zachary, 27, were detained in Rio Grande, Texas.
All four family members were indicted in the U.S. District Court of Southern Texas on April 17 and pleaded not guilty on charges related to smuggling thousands of barrels of stolen crude oil into the U.S.
As federal law enforcement agencies investigated the case, prosecutors said that they had identified one of the family's closest associates in the operation: the Jalisco cartel.
According to the expanded indictment filed last week, James and Maxwell Jensen smuggled $300 million in Mexican crude oil into the U.S. The 2,881 shipments occurred between May 2022 and 2025, authorities said.
About $47 million of it was allegedly laundered in businesses linked with organizations such as the Jalisco cartel.
On Tuesday, charges against Kelly and Zachary Jensen were suddenly dropped, according to CBS 4. Prosecutors did not provide details about the government’s decision to dismiss the indictment.
The family patriarch and his son Maxwell, however, now face a new charge: conspiracy to provide material support to a terrorist organization.
According to the expanded indictment filed last week and obtained by the Latin Times, James and Maxwell Jensen, who both co-own the family company, “knowingly conspired and agreed together to provide material support and resources, namely U.S. currency, to the Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación.”
President Donald Trump designated the Jalisco cartel a Foreign Terrorist Organization in February.
The father and son waived their appearance for arraignment on Thursday and pleaded not guilty.
The stolen crude oil had allegedly been bought by three companies linked with the Jensens: Arroyo Terminals, Big Hog Energy and Jentran.
“The crude oil was purchased from companies operating solely with the authorization of Mexican criminal organizations,” the indictment states.
The highly-prized resource was transported into the U.S. under the guise of “waste” oil to avoid import regulations, prosecutors said. The oil was allegedly brought into the country by barges docked outside their Arroyo Terminals, which is based in Texas near the Mexican border.
Once on American soil, federal prosecutors say that the illegal oil was scrubbed clean by selling it to their industrial clients as if it were procured lawfully.
The father and son now face five federal charges, which include money laundering and fuel trafficking, among other felony counts.
Both Jensen were due to be arraigned Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, but waived their appearance and entered a not-guilty plea.
If convicted, they could face up to 20 years in prison and be required to pay back the funds they allegedly laundered and profited from.
A date of June 16 was set to begin jury selection for their trial, which is expected to be pushed back due to Thursday’s additional charges.