Judge Kenneth L. Hake said after a four-day preliminary hearing that evidence indicated that Richard and Belinda Mitchell ran a sophisticated scam that hoodwinked a lonely man.
The alleged victim, a 34-year-old Citrus Heights man -- Tim, whose last name is being withheld at his request -- testified that Belinda Mitchell represented herself as a widow when they met in 1999.
She promised to marry him, and he bought cars and other gifts for her, he said. Tim also gave her thousands of dollars for purported cancer treatments. Tim said Richard Mitchell pretended to be Belinda's brother.
The Mitchells are being held in lieu of $350,000 bail each. If convicted of all charges -- from conspiracy to commit grand theft to unlawfully taking cash -- each defendant could face up to five years in prison, the prosecutor said.