Two Elk fraudster Michael J. Ruffatto locked up

Two Elk power plant promoter Michael J. Ruffatto reported to a minimum security federal prison in California this week to begin serving an 18-month sentence for stealing $5.7 million from a 2009-2010 Department of Energy research grant in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin.

A spokesperson for the federal Bureau of Prisons said Tuesday Aug. 28 that Ruffatto had been assigned to the United States Penitentiary Lompoc “minimum security satellite prison camp” in Santa Barbara County.

Ruffatto, 72, requested the Lompoc facility at his June 27 sentencing hearing in Pittsburgh. The camp’s 400 inmates live in dormitory style housing in some cases without perimeter fencing. The prison news service PrisonWire describes the Lompoc camp as being “as close as you can get to not feeling like the inmate is incarcerated.” The camp offers programs where selected inmates can work outside the camp in the local community.

In addition to prison time, Ruffatto still owes the federal government more than $8 million in restitution and civil penalties, including $2,019,281.92 that is due before the end of the year.

Read more: https://www.wyofile.com/two-elk-fraudster-michael-j-ruffatto-locked-up/