FRESNO, Calif. (NEWSnet/AP) — A California man is going to prison for running a cow dung-to-green energy scheme that authorities say was a load of manure.

Ray Brewer, 66, of Porterville, California, was sentenced Monday to six years and nine months in federal prison in a scam that bilked investors out of $8.75 million, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

Brewer ran a scheme 2014-19 claiming he was building anaerobic digesters at dairies in Fresno, Kern, Kings and Tulare counties and in Idaho, prosecutors said.

Anaerobic digesters use microorganisms to break down biodegradable material and turn it into methane. It can be sold and also provide producers with renewable energy credits to produce green energy, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

Brewer told investors he would turn cow manure into methane and they would receive 66% of net profit and tax incentives, federal prosecutors said. He took investors on tours of dairies where he allegedly planned to build the digesters and sent forged lease agreements with dairy owners. Brewer faked loan agreements with banks and produced bogus photographs of the machines under construction, prosecutors said.

Investors’ money went into several bank accounts. Brewer spent the money on land, a custom home and new vehicles, authorities said.

He also kept his investors up to date on the non-existent construction with fake schedules, invoices and power generation reports, authorities said.

When investors learned they had been bilked, some won lawsuits against him. Brewer moved to Sheridan, Montana, and assumed a new identity before he eventually was arrested.

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