50 year prison sentence for over 9,000 gallon diesel fuel theft

SMITH COUNTY — The Smith County District Attorney’s office says a 37-year-old man has been sentenced to 50 years in prison, for stealing more than 9,000 gallons of diesel fuel from gas stations across Texas. According to our news partner KETK, Duniesky Gonzalez was sentenced for engaging in organized criminal activity. The DA said the charge stemmed from stealing diesel from gas stations across nine different counties in Texas by using fraudulent credit card information.

Gonzalez was arrested alongside Ramon Perez-Torres and Camila Cruz Concepcion who were also charged with engaging in organized criminal activity.

Arrest reports say the trio was able to get the diesel by tampering with device called a pulser. The pulser registers the rate at which diesel fuel is being pumped. Authorities said the tampered device would “tell” the fuel pump to dispense fuel at 1/20 the rate it was actually was. Which means, they paid for diesel at 1/20th the price.

Officials stated in order to activate a fuel pump, the ring would often use stolen credit and debit card information. The East Texas diesel theft ring reportedly stole 9,312 gallons of diesel fuel in 2022.