SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Two employees of a San Francisco Bay Area solar energy company have pleaded guilty to participating in what federal prosecutors say was a massive scheme that defrauded investors of $1 billion.
Investigators say the owners, who have not been charged, accumulated nearly 150 often exotic vehicles, including a 1978 Pontiac Trans Am once owned by Burt Reynolds.
The replica of the car driven by the late actor in "Smokey and the Bandit" and the other vehicles are to be auctioned off on Saturday. Online bidding already pushed their value past $5 million.
It's the largest single-owner car collection ever auctioned by U.S. Marshals.
Pleading guilty Tuesday were 53-year-old certified public accountant Ronald Roach and 44-year-old general contractor Joseph Bayliss.
They admitted providing false reports misleading investors of DC Solar.
