Man gets 50 years in prison for stealing diesel - am I missing something?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Recent story here in Texas: A man used a device to get diesel from fuel pumps at an artificially low price. He did this at multiple pumps and eventually got several thousand gallons of free diesel this way.

He then got a 50-year prison sentence, and the prosecutor even said that life imprisonment would have been reasonable.

Am I missing something? This seems like the sort of crime that, a decade or two ago, would have probably gotten a sentence of something like 3-7 years in prison. Fifty years is almost a de facto life sentence, as if the man had committed murder. Is this the new norm or an isolated bizarro?

2

Reading the article, it sounds like he was also accused of leading an organized crime group which was doing this, which likely factored into things. Even so, that does seem excessive for a theft ring.

3

He also apparently submitted an open plea of guilty without reaching a plea bargain. Just based on the article this guy didn’t seem very interested in his own defense.

4

If there’s a crime ring, and this guy is just pleading guilty without a bargain, isn’t it simplest to assume that he was chosen to take a fall, and that the ring was somehow incentivizing that plea to protect the real higher-ups?

5

Does the open guilty plea mean that he can’t appeal the sentence?

6

I didn’t read the article, but is the defendant’s name “Patsy”?

7

Per the link, “Gonzalez was arrested alongside Ramon Perez-Torres and Camila Cruz Concepcion who were also charged with engaging in organized criminal activity.”

8

OK, but even if they were also arrested, it’s the ringleader who will get the largest sentence. If he gets 50 years, but someone else gets only 5, that could be worth a heck of a lot to that someone else.

If the people arrested are even the entire ring. There might be someone else who’s getting off completely.

9

FWIW, “Ramon Perrez-Torres, 31, of Mesquite, and Camila Cruz Concepcion, 26, of Dallas, were arrested for the same charge and are being held in the Smith County Jail. Both are set for jury trial on July 23.” So while you’re right that there could be a fourth or whatever, these two are — still on the hook, I guess? They might get the same sentence, or even something bigger?

10

Is that July 23 of last year or this year?

11

This is Texas; oil and oil products are kind of revered there; they don’t take kindly to anyone trying to steal it. Kind of like how the people in the Old West felt about people who stole horses.

12

Looks like this year.

13

Even worse than stealing from God, he stole from Big Oil.

14

A guy I know, who always seemed like a really good guy, got caught doing something illegal. He owned a little hunting cabin. He tapped into a gas well to supply his cabin with gas.

I’m sure he was incredibly embarrassed by the news coverage, but his punishment did not include jail time!

15

First and most important, pleading guilty and not fighting at all, as suggested upthread, probably got the book thrown at him, especially in Texas. And yeah, I’d love to see if there was a breakdown for the theft vs the conspiracy/ringleader(patsy). But… and I’m being cynical, being male and Latino probably did more than a little to make things worse.

As an example that chaps my hide (doubling down on the state!):

https://apnews.com/article/military-theft-extravagant-mello-children-e15c1ff0b7653397ee9096eb8314d41d

This woman stole $109 MILLION, from a YOUTH PROGRAM FOR MILITARY KIDS, and got only 15 years. Yes, it’s federal, yes, she pled, yes, she’s offered to make as much restitution as possible for her 10 counts (5 mail fraud, 5 tax fraud), but come ON.

I’d love to see those sentences swapped.

And yeah, her attorneys and friends basically said “she was wrong, but she’s contrite, she shouldn’t be in jail, like, a criminal or something”. Of course, it also seems they’re smart enough to take the measly 15 years without trying to appeal…

So, if you’re going to crime in Texas (she’s a contractor in Texas), make sure it’s federal, not state, and not from big Oil.

16

Texas has a 3-strikes law; was this his third conviction which would bring about enhanced sentence?

17

There’s nothing in either of the articles in the OP which indicate (or even suggest) that he is a repeat offender. That doesn’t mean that he isn’t, of course, but if that was a factor in his sentencing, the reporters didn’t think to mention it.

I did note this in the second link:

But, again, there’s nothing in either article to indicate that the defendant is an immigrant, documented or otherwise.

18

If he diverted “thousands” of gallons of fuel, it’s likely he was selling it on the side, or at least the judge thought so when he was considering the sentence.

19

According to tihs website belonging to a San Antonio criminal defense law firm, grand theft in an amount between $1500 and $100,000 can be punished by up to 10 years in prison. But if this defendant stole the diesel on multiple occasions that added up to 9000 gallons, then wouldn’t it have been standard practice for the prosecutors to charge each incident separately? Also there was the credit card fraud.

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