Sonoma auto shop owner gets 9 years prison after stealing $350K from customers
A former car restoration shop owner in Santa Rosa was sentenced to nearly 10 years in prison for stealing more than $350,000 from his customers, according to prosecutors.
In a statement Monday, the Sonoma County District Attorney's Office said Suede Lee Barganski, 57, was given nine years and eight months following his guilty plea to six felony charges and admitted an out-on-bail enhancement.
He also admitted that his victims were particularly vulnerable and elderly, some of whom are now dead, prosecutors said.
According to the District Attorney's Office, Barganski engaged in illegal practices, victimizing at least 22 different people who suffered more than $350,000 in total losses. The victims sought out Barganski because he was one of the only mechanics in the area who worked on classic cars, some dating back as far as the 1930s.
In some cases, months or even years passed before the victim realized that Barganski had not performed the work he had promised after already having received payment. On at least two occasions, he forged vehicle titles and sold the cars to unsuspecting buyers, according to the District Attorney's Office.
Many of the victims reported that when word finally spread that he was defrauding his customers, they found their vehicles abandoned in a field south of Santa Rosa. The vehicles had parts missing or dismantled and stuffed inside the passenger compartments, prosecutors said.
A case was filed in 2020 against Barganski and proceeded through the preliminary hearing stage but Barganski failed to appear for court in 2022 as he fled to Idaho, where he allegedly committed similar offenses.
He then went to Texas, where he was arrested in October 2022. After he was brought back to California, he booked into Sonoma County Jail. where he will remain incarcerated to serve the custody portion of his prison sentence.
"Mr. Barganski took advantage of his trusting customers for more than a decade and needed to be held accountable. Once he completes his sentence, we look forward to enforcing the court's order that he pay full restitution to all Sonoma County victims," District Attorney Carla Rodriguez said.