Ryan Guidry, Ponzi Scheme, California 2020

Pleasant Hill Man Sentenced to 6.5 Years in Prison for Billion-Dollar DC Solar Ponzi Scheme

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Ryan Guidry, 45, of Pleasant Hill, was sentenced today to six years and six months in prison and ordered to pay $619,415,950 in restitution for participating in a billion-dollar Ponzi scheme involving DC Solar, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

Guidry pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States and aiding and abetting money laundering on January 14, 2020.

According to court documents, between 2011 and 2018, DC Solar manufactured solar generators that were mounted on trailers known as mobile solar generator units (MSG). The company touted the versatility and environmental sustainability of the mobile solar generators and claimed that they were used to provide emergency power to cellphone towers and lighting at sporting and other events.

Jeff Carpoff, 52, of Martinez, and his co-conspirators solicited investors by claiming that there were favorable federal tax benefits associated with investments in alternative energy. They sold more solar generators than they manufactured to investors, making it appear that solar generators existed in locations that they did not, creating false financial statements, and obtaining false lease contracts, among other efforts to conceal the fraud.

District Court records indicate that Guidry worked at DC Solar from 2012 through 2019 and became Vice President of Operations by 2015. Guidry accepted $1 million that he knew came from deceived investors to get a signature on a false lease contract, and split another $20,000 in cash with Alan Hansen, 51, of Vacaville, an employee of a telecom company for forging a signature on a related agreement.

This case was the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, IRS Criminal Investigation, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher S. Hales and Kevin C. Khasigian prosecuted the case.

Guidry is the latest individual to be sentenced for their role in the DC Solar Ponzi scheme. Jeff Carpoff was sentenced to 30 years in prison and ordered to pay $790.6 million in restitution for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. His wife Paulette Carpoff pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States and money laundering, and was sentenced to 11 years and three months in prison. Joseph W. Bayliss was sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay $481.3 million in restitution for securities fraud and conspiracy. DC Solar CFO Robert A. Karmann was sentenced to six years in prison and ordered to pay $624 million. Alan Hansen was sentenced to eight years in prison for conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States and aiding and abetting money laundering.

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