Craig Case, one of Santa Barbara’s best-known, real-life private detectives, was sentenced to 26 years and eight months for defrauding Montecito millionaire and art collector Constance McCormick Fearing — a scion of the McCormick family fortune — to the tune of $700,000. He used the proceeds to help bankroll his public access TV show celebrating Santa Barbara’s burgeoning wine and food scene.
Case had been offered a four-year deal if he agreed to plead guilty, but he turned that down. In a case bursting with sad and tawdry details, prosectors charged Case manipulated Nancy Coglizer — who wielded power of attorney over Fearing’s estate — to write a series of checks on Fearing’s account over a three-year period. Coglizer, struggling with alcoholism after her mother’s death, testified against Case in the trial, claiming Case groomed her and exploited her depression. Coglizer was sentenced alongside Case, but was sentenced to 10 years of probation coupled with a 364-day sentence in the county jail. Her sentence was so much lighter because she did not personally benefit from the theft, admitted her guilt, and cooperated with prosecutors.
Case was found guilty of 62 felonies and one misdemeanor that included money laundering, tax evasion, and showing law enforcement officers a forged concealed weapons permit when they found a loaded handgun in his car during a traffic stop.
