RICHLAND — A man who claimed his Pasco, Washington, biofuels company had developed a promising new technology to convert household trash into diesel fuel has been sentenced to four years in federal prison.
The Tri-City Herald reports that Michael Spitzauer admitted to swindling investors.
According to the plea agreement U.S. District Judge Sal Mendoza Jr. accepted Tuesday, Spitzauer is supposed to repay his victims nearly $13 million. He has said he is broke.
Many of the charges stemmed from his actions as CEO of Green Power.
The Kennewick man admitted to defrauding investors of $10.4 million and using the money to pay back previous investors and for unauthorized business and personal expenses.
Spitzauer said Tuesday he did not see what he did as wrong but understands now he should have done things differently.
