Initial Statement of Beneficial Ownership (3)

FORM 3	UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 INITIAL STATEMENT OF BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP OF SECURITIES	OMB APPROVAL OMB Number: 3235-0104 Estimated average burden hours per response... 0.5
	Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 or Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940

1. Name and Address of Reporting Person ^*

DeSantis Philip Frank

2. Date of Event Requiring Statement (MM/DD/YYYY) 3/1/2017

3. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol

Pacific Ethanol, Inc. [PEIX]

(Last) (First) (Middle)

C/O CANDLEWOOD INVESTMENT GROUP, LP, 555 THEODORE FREMD AVE., SUITE C-303

4. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer (Check all applicable)

_____ Director ___ X ___ 10% Owner
_____ Officer (give title below) _____ Other (specify below)

(Street)

RYE, NY 10580

(City) (State) (Zip)

5. If Amendment, Date Original Filed (MM/DD/YYYY)

6. Individual or Joint/Group Filing (Check Applicable Line)

_ X _ Form filed by One Reporting Person
___ Form filed by More than One Reporting Person

Table I - Non-Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned
1.Title of Security (Instr. 4)	2. Amount of Securities Beneficially Owned (Instr. 4)	3. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 5)	4. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5)
Common Stock	4207	D
Common Stock	3987194	I	See footnote ⁽¹⁾
Common Stock	58784	I	See footnote ⁽¹⁾
Common Stock	900177	I	See footnote ⁽¹⁾
Common Stock	77292	I	See footnote ⁽¹⁾

*Table II - Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned ( e.g.* , puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)**
1. Title of Derivate Security (Instr. 4)	2. Date Exercisable and Expiration Date (MM/DD/YYYY)		3. Title and Amount of Securities Underlying Derivative Security (Instr. 4)		4. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security	5. Ownership Form of Derivative Security: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 5)	6. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5)
1. Title of Derivate Security (Instr. 4)	Date Exercisable	Expiration Date	Title	Amount or Number of Shares	4. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security		6. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5)
Non-Voting Common Stock	⁽²⁾	⁽²⁾	Common Stock	4081	⁽²⁾	D
Non-Voting Common Stock	⁽²⁾	⁽²⁾	Common Stock	1797147	⁽²⁾	I	See footnote ⁽¹⁾
Non-Voting Common Stock	⁽²⁾	⁽²⁾	Common Stock	38417	⁽²⁾	I	See footnote ⁽¹⁾
Non-Voting Common Stock	⁽²⁾	⁽²⁾	Common Stock	201226	⁽²⁾	I	See footnote ⁽¹⁾
Non-Voting Common Stock	⁽²⁾	⁽²⁾	Common Stock	46298	⁽²⁾	I	See footnote ⁽¹⁾

Explanation of Responses:
( 1)	The securities are directly held by a private investment fund for which Candlewood Investment Group, LP (the "Investment Manager") serves as the investment manager. The Reporting Person is a managing partner of the Investment Manager. The Reporting Person disclaims beneficial ownership of the reported securities except to the extent of his pecuniary interest.
( 2)	The Non-Voting Common Stock are convertible on a one-for-one basis into Common Stock. However, the Reporting Person cannot convert the Non-Voting Common Stock if he and any of his affiliates would, after such conversion, beneficially own greater than 9.99% of the Common Stock. The beneficial ownership of the Common Stock by the Reporting Person and his affiliates currently exceeds 9.99%, and accordingly, he cannot currently convert any of the Non-Voting Common Stock. The right to convert Non-Voting Common Stock into Common Stock does not expire.

Reporting Owners
Reporting Owner Name / Address	Relationships
Reporting Owner Name / Address	Director	10% Owner	Officer	Other
DeSantis Philip Frank C/O CANDLEWOOD INVESTMENT GROUP, LP 555 THEODORE FREMD AVE., SUITE C-303 RYE, NY 10580		X

Signatures
/s/ Philip F. DeSantis		3/8/2017
^** Signature of Reporting Person		Date

Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly.
*	If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction 5(b)(v).
**	Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations. See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).
Note:	File three copies of this Form, one of which must be manually signed. If space is insufficient, see Instruction 6 for procedure.
Persons who respond to the collection of information contained in this form are not required to respond unless the form displays a currently valid OMB control number.