Two Kingfisher men were among five defendants indicted by a federal grand jury for crimes resulting from alleged equipment thefts at natural gas compression plants in several counties, Kingfisher County Sheriff Dennis Banther said.

Victor Ray Quick, 27, and Gregory Wayne Webster, 38, both of Kingfisher, Jefferie Adam Warren, 21, of Mustang, Clint Harrison Donaghe, 53, of Crescent, and Aldo Manolo Calderon Gramajo, 44, of Oklahoma City, were named in a felony indictment filed April 6 in federal court for the Western District of Oklahoma in Oklahoma City.

The indictment charges all five men with conspiracy to destroy an energy facility, which carries up to 20 years in prison and/or a $250,000 fine.

They each also face one to three additional counts of aiding and abetting the destruction of an energy facility, which carries a sentence of up to five years in prison and/or a $250,000 fine.

Banther said the charges arose from a multicounty investigation involving an ad hoc task force of state and county law enforcement, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Department of Homeland Security, and private oil and gas companies.

The group dubbed itself MIST (Metal Information Sharing Team) and began with the Kingfisher County Sheriff’s Office reaching out to security teams at Devon Energy and Ovintiv after reports of what Banther called “a different type of oilfield theft.”

Starting last November, thieves began stealing catalysts from engines on oilfield sites and natural gas compression stations.

Similar to catalytic converters on cars, catalysts on large natural gas engines achieve emission reductions through chemical reactions in the exhaust.

They also contain precious metals that thieves can sell for scrap.

“If the engine is active, these catalysts are several hundred degrees in temperature and can weigh around 100 pounds,” Banther said. “Our county had a total of 17 thefts during the course of this investigative process.”

In talking to Devon and Ovintiv representatives, the local sheriff’s office learned that Oklahoma City Police Department had identified a suspect in a theft in their jurisdiction from trail cam photos of him and a second suspect.

“Ironically, they identified (the suspect) with his tattoos by using jail photographs from our county,” Banther said. “I’m very proud of our staff for taking the extra time to take pictures (of tattoos) and download them in our system.”

MIST eventually grew to also include representatives of Continental Resources, Oklahoma City PD, Canadian, Blaine, Custer, Caddo, Roger Mills, Beckham, Garfield, Logan, Payne and Dewey county sheriff’s offices, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, Oklahoma Highway Patrol and the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Department of Homeland Security.

“This team meets monthly and has a group chat app where we share information as it becomes available,” Banther said.

Warren, whom Banther describes as “the primary suspect” who allegedly “drew others in to help in each of his crimes,” is charged in all four counts of the indictment.

He was jailed on related charges in Roger Mills County and transported to Oklahoma City Wednesday for arraignment on the federal charges. He pleaded not guilty and was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshal Service, with jury trial scheduled for June 14, according to online federal court records.

Gramajo was arrested Thursday and pleaded not guilty to the single conspiracy charge pending against him. He also remains in the custody of the U.S. Marshal Service and is scheduled for a detention hearing.

He has a pending state charge in Roger Mills County for receiving or concealing stolen property and operating as a scrap metal dealer without a license.

Webster, Quick and Donaghe have not been arrested. The indictment charges Donaghe with aiding and abetting Warren on two of the three destruction of energy property counts, while Webster and Quick are charged in relation to the third, in addition to the conspiracy charge which all three face.

The specific counts are based on catalyst thefts from three separate natural gas compression stations.

Webster and Quick both also face state charges in Beckham County related to theft of oilfield equipment.

Banther said the local sheriff’s office was involved in serving multiple search warrants, a pursuit and arrests in several jurisdictions as part of the task force.

“The pursuit was in Roger Mills County towards the end of December,” he said.

“It was the result of a search warrant we activated for the tracking of one of the defendants.

“It allowed us to watch their movements and determine when they would start their next round of thefts.

“That particular evening, we were able to notify officers in Beckham County that they were at a specific site.

“When officers showed up, the defendants drove through fences and across fields to escape arrest.

“It took a few hours of tracking, but they were captured.

“They attempted to escape again, but had officers coming from every angle.

“That was at a location in Roger Mills County.”