A man who was a press liaison for former President George W. Bush and ex-Vice President Dick Cheney is at the center of a case involving $2 million of fuel stolen from Mexican oil giant Petroleos Mexicanos that was resold in the United States.

Josh Crescenzi of Houston, former vice president for Continental Fuels of San Antonio, has been cooperating with agents of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for several months, helping them secretly record conversations that have resulted in the conviction of a Houston oil industry executive, another one from San Antonio and the president of a small oil and gas company in Edinburg.

Crescenzi's help is likely to lead to charges against more people, the San Antonio Express-News has learned.

Petroleum condensate, which Mexico claims was stolen by the Gulf Cartel's armed enforcement wing, Los Zetas, was sold to at least three oil companies in the United States — Germany-based BASF, Murphy Energy of Oklahoma, and Trammo Petroleum of Houston. Representatives for BASF and Murphy said the companies did not know the condensate was stolen.

The path of stolen petroleum also involves importers, including Petro Salum in the Rio Grande Valley. On Oct. 2, Jonathan Dappen, 29, of Petro Salum pleaded guilty in the wide-ranging conspiracy.

He followed Arnoldo Maldonado, president of Y Oil and Gas in Edinburg, and Donald Schroeder, former president of Trammo. All admitted they knew the condensate was stolen, court transcripts show.

Bragged of connections

Crescenzi is a former press advance representative for Bush and Cheney. They are not implicated in the case, but those familiar with Crescenzi said he was known to brag about his connections to further his business interests.

Crescenzi most recently supervised operations in the Rio Grande Valley for Continental Fuels. He resigned in May while cooperating with the feds and has not commented publicly. No charges have been filed against him.

Through records and interviews, the Express-News found he turned over bills of lading ICE agents believe were used to disguise shipments of the stolen condensate smuggled across the Texas border and stored at the Port of Brownsville.

As part of the probe, ICE agents seized more than $40,000 from Continental Fuels and $102,525 from Valley Fuels Ltd., another San Antonio company.

Valley Fuels president Steve Pechenik pleaded guilty Friday to charges of conspiracy to receive and sell stolen petroleum condensate.

Continental Fuels CEO Tim Brink of San Antonio and those who pleaded guilty were recorded on tape with Crescenzi's help, allegedly discussing the stolen condensate, records show.

“We're investigating the matter,” one of Brink's lawyers, Van Hilley, said recently.Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim McAlister, who is prosecuting, declined comment when asked about the records.

Avoided one scandal

Before joining Continental Fuels, Crescenzi worked for lobbyist Stephen Payne, owner of Worldwide Strategic Partners in Houston and several related companies.

In July 2008, Payne appeared on a videotape made by London's Sunday Times offering a foreign government official access to Cheney and then-Secretary of State Condo­leezza Rice in exchange for a $250,000 “donation” to the private George W. Bush Presidential Library.

There is no evidence that Crescenzi was involved in the Payne scandal.

In the petroleum condensate case, ICE had learned from Mexican officials in 2007 about the illegal shipments from Pemex pipelines.

Crescenzi agreed to cooperate and made more than 400 hours of recorded conversations, including ones about the shipments.

Schroeder testified that he was contacted by representatives from Continental and Murphy who “told me they had some Mexican condensate they would like to sell.”

“A little bit later, I received a call from Josh Crescenzi, … and he had told me that the condensate was stolen,” Schroeder said, describing the January phone call.

“And, so what did you do about it?” U.S. District Judge Ewing Werlein Jr. asked.

“I bought it and sold it,” Schroeder answered.

Prosecutor McAlister told the judge that Trammo received $150,000 in profits from the stolen condensate.

Joel Androphy, a lawyer for Murphy Energy, said in an interview that the government subpoenaed documents from the firm, and that Murphy cooperated. He also said Murphy lost almost $1 million in the deal .

“Murphy has no knowledge of any scheme to do anything illegal,” Androphy said. “We paid market value for a product that someone now says was stolen.”

Daniel Pepitone, a spokesman for BASF, said the company also is cooperating and, “we have no reason to believe BASF had any involvement in the alleged wrongdoing.”

In August, U.S. officials handed Mexican dignitaries a $2.4 million check from Trammo as compensation to Pemex.

Schroeder, who is cooperating, was fined $2 million and will be sentenced in December. Maldonado and Dappen face sentencing in January and also are cooperating, records show.

gcontreras@express-news.net