A California attorney who helped lend legal cover to a billion-dollar solar energy fraud was sentenced Monday to more than 11 years in federal prison for his role in what prosecutors called the largest criminal fraud scheme in the history of the Eastern District of California.
Ari J. Lauer, 61, of Lafayette, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dale A. Drozd to 11 years and five months in prison for his involvement in the DC Solar Ponzi scheme, U.S. Attorney Eric Grant announced. Lauer served as outside counsel to DC Solar from 2009 to January 2019, providing legal and business advice that, according to prosecutors, gave the scheme an air of legitimacy and helped deflect investor suspicion.
DC Solar, run by Martinez residents Jeff and Paulette Carpoff, manufactured mobile solar generators and marketed them to investors as versatile, environmentally friendly power sources. Investors were lured in part by generous federal tax credits tied to the solar equipment. The arrangement called for DC Solar to lease the generators back from investors and sublease them to third parties — but genuine outside demand never exceeded about 5% of the revenue the company claimed.
When Lauer and other conspirators learned as early as June 2012 that lease revenue was falling far short of what investors were promised, prosecutors say they chose concealment. The group devised a circular payment system — internally called “re-rent” — that used new investor money to pay obligations to existing investors while disguising the transfers as legitimate lease revenue. In all, DC Solar solicited more than $912 million from investors in transactions purportedly involving roughly 17,000 generators valued at approximately $2.5 billion.
Lauer pleaded guilty in October 2025 — one week before his scheduled trial — to multiple counts including wire fraud and bank fraud affecting a financial institution. Jeff Carpoff, the scheme’s ringleader, was sentenced in 2021 to 30 years in prison.
This article was constructed with the assistance of artificial intelligence and published by a member of The Washington Times’ AI News Desk team. The contents of this report are based solely on The Washington Times’ original reporting, wire services, and/or other sources cited within the report. For more information, please read our AI policy AI policy or contact Steve Fink, Director of Artificial Intelligence, at sfink@washingtontimes.com
The Washington Times AI Ethics Newsroom Committee can be reached at aispotlight@washingtontimes.com.
