LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) A judge on Friday sentenced 40-year-old Donnie Laing Jr., of Youngsville to 3 years in prison and 3 years supervised release for a Ponzi scheme that that he orchestrated through his limited liability company, Capital Energy Investments, LLC (“Capital”), the Department of Justice announced.

Laing, who pled guilty in March, 2020 was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Terry A. Doughty for wire fraud. He was also ordered to pay $918,531 in restitution to the victims of this scheme.

According to the Justice Department, Laing used Capital to set up a business bank account and solicit money from the victims of his scheme. Investors were led to believe that Capital would use their money to invest in oil and gas equipment, and then lease such equipment to companies engaged in oil and gas exploration activities for a profit, promising investors high rates of return on their investments.

Instead, Laing used the victims’ investments for his own personal use, the justice department said.

Throughout the course of the scheme, Laing defrauded multiple investors and received nine investor payments during the period from April to October 2018, the justice department said.