Last defendant sentenced in North Dakota oil theft scheme
By JACK DURA
Associated Press
The last of four men charged in a scheme to steal millions of dollars worth of crude oil in western North Dakota’s oil field has been sentenced. Authorities in 2022 said the oil skimming scheme involved $2.4 million in crude oil. Darrell Woody Merrell on Thursday pleaded guilty to felony charges of theft conspiracy and dealing in stolen property. A state district court judge sentenced him to serve nearly a year in jail and two years of supervised probation and to pay $200,000 restitution. Prosecutors alleged Merrell skimmed oil as a truck driver in the case.
