US Department of Justice and court reports on William Stehl, 2026-10-04

Sites: justice.gov (USAO Northern District of New York); Daily Gazette / Adirondack Daily Enterprise (dailygazette.com, partial); search snippets from North Country Public Radio and nny360. Google query: "Stehl" "Saranac Lake" water energy sentenced OR convicted OR acquitted OR trial OR plea.

A. DOJ press release, 5 September 2014, "Second Defendant Convicted in $8 Million Fraud Scheme Concerning Purported Alternative Energy Technology" [web: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndny/pr/second-defendant-convicted-8-million-fraud-scheme-concerning-purported-alternative]

The prosecutor's own account, so an interested party (the prosecution). - William A. Stehl, 69, of Ventura, CA, pleaded guilty on 2 September 2014 in Los Angeles (Judge Terry J. Hatter, Jr.) to five counts: conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, lying to federal agents, two counts of attempted tax evasion (2003, 2004), and a false 2003 return. - It was an Alford plea (North Carolina v. Alford, 1970): a guilty plea entered without admitting guilt, because the defendant concludes a trial would convict him. Reviewers should keep this distinction. - The conspiracy alleged false statements about the status of contracts and licensing agreements, made from 2001 to the March 2010 indictment. Over $8 million was raised from more than 300 victims, and at least $50 million more was sought. Most of the money went on personal spending. The alleged false statements were about business status (contracts signed or about to be signed), not about whether the process worked. One stated application of Stehl's energy source was processing precious metals from a slag pile in Silver City, New Mexico. - The case was filed in Binghamton, NY and moved to the Central District of California in October 2012 because of Stehl's injuries in the 9 August 2011 Sylmar explosion. - Co-defendant Richard M. Rossignol, 64, was convicted at trial on 28 February 2014 and sentenced on 28 July 2014 to 20 years (the statutory maximum), with $8.1 million restitution. Judge Audrey B. Collins called it among the most egregious frauds she had seen. - Investigators: IRS-CI New York and FBI Albany. AUSA Kevin P. Dooley.

B. Sentence (snippet only, not opened)

• North Country Public Radio, 28 Aug 2015 (snippet): Stehl "was sentenced in January to 12 years in prison". The same story reports hazardous (and, per nny360 31 Aug 2015, radioactive) items found in a Saranac Lake garage on a lot owned by Stehl. Those items may be remnants of the BGX/Rainbow lab; a lead for what equipment and materials the original process used.
• Daily Gazette (Adirondack Daily Enterprise), 1 Jan 2014, "Judge tosses one count, upholds another against William Stehl" [web: https://www.dailygazette.com/ade/news/business/judge-tosses-one-count-upholds-another-against-william-stehl/article_6413bb86-e5d0-590d-90fb-d8488577b8f7.html]: the headline loaded but the body did not (partial). Snippet: Stehl lived in Saranac Lake 2000-2005; the earlier companies included Rainbow Technologies and BGX Technologies.

Bearing on the claims

• This is not a verdict on the physics. The prosecutor said in 2010 that the case was not about whether the science was fraudulent (VC Star note), and the 2014 release describes misrepresentations about contracts and returns. Reviewers should keep "the commercial claims were found fraudulent" (legal record) separate from "the bond-angle vapor does not exist" (a physics question that no court decided).
• Historical record: the court file (NDNY indictment, March 2010; CD Cal docket after Oct 2012; Rossignol trial exhibits, Jan-Feb 2014) is the place where any technical reports, investor presentations, or third-party test results on Stehl's process would be (priority 2 and 4 lead; PACER).