A Santa Barbara judge on Friday lowered bail for a Newport Beach couple accused of taking more than $2 million from a Montecito woman, among other charges, from $2 million each to $100,000 each.

Defense attorneys had argued in court this week that the defendants, Byron Richard “Rick” Tarnutzer, 63, and Vonna Tarnutzer, 70, couldn’t afford such high bail given that their financial accounts were under investigation and would be frozen, if they hadn’t been already.

The Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office on Monday filed 68 criminal charges against the pair related to fraud, money laundering, forgery, grand theft and conspiracy. 

According to the criminal complaint, the Tarnutzers allegedly solicited a $1.75 million promissory note from a Montecito woman, Mystica Fleury, for a “fraudulent investment pitch,” after Fleury went through a divorce. 

They also are accused of convincing her to purchase a Montecito home adjacent to theirs on Owen Road and to pay them money for the remodeling.

Fleury sued them in civil court in 2022 over an alleged lack of payments on that note, as well as for reportedly not paying subcontractors for the remodeling work, in a case that is still pending. 

The Tarnutzers own homes in Orange County’s Newport Beach and in Santa Barbara near Montecito. They primarily reside in Newport Beach and, until recently, had rented out their Montecito property. 

The Tarnutzers were arrested Feb. 26 at their home in Newport Beach and brought to the Santa Barbara area after a more than two-year investigation by the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office.

Rick Tarnutzer is an investor, and Vonna Tarnutzer is reportedly retired, though she does own an interior design business, American Interior, through which the pair are accused of using to launder money, according to investigators. 

When they were arrested, their Santa Barbara home was being leased out by short-term renters, allegedly in violation of the City of Santa Barbara’s ordinance, Senior Deputy District Attorney Brian Cota said on court on Friday. 

The Tarnutzers were back in court after a twice-continued arraignment hearing, and a longtime Newport Beach friend of theirs testified via Zoom that he would gift them money to pay part of their bail.

The Tarnutzers did not enter pleas Friday, and the arraignment was continued to April 1.

The court also set conditions of bail on Friday. The couple will be subject to GPS monitoring and are ordered to stay away from Fleury and a subcontractor they are accused of not paying, Miguel Benitez, as well as one of their mortgage companies. 

They are allowed limited contact with the other mortgage company they are accused of defrauding, but only to pay their mortgage and discuss any current loans, according to the court. 

They also must disclose the ongoing court case in any fiduciary matters on behalf of new clients. 

Once out on bail, the couple are allowed to return to their Santa Barbara-area home, provided they stay away from Fleury and their shared property line.

Rick Tarnutzer’s lawyer, Robert Sanger, said the couple are not eager to return to their local property, given that they primarily reside in Newport Beach.

Addison Steele, Vonna Tarnutzer’s lawyer, said the couple may have to return to that home for maintenance and to ensure that they can be present in Santa Barbara court on time, given the long drive from Orange County.

Sanger also filed a request for a gag order on Thursday, seemingly in response to a comment posted to social media earlier this week by an unnamed member of the District Attorney’s Office.

The comment — “It took three days to finish” — was attached to a Facebook post with a link to an article about the Tarnutzers’ arrest. The “it” was not specified in court on Friday. 

The comment has since been taken down, according to Cota, who told the court he also sent out an email to his staff about the matter. 

Though he said he didn’t initially understand what the comment was referring to, he also agreed the comment “shouldn’t have been done.” 

After all parties could not agree on a hearing date for the gag order and agreed to waive their oral arguments, Judge Teresa Martinez said she would issue a written decision on the matter.

However, she seemed poised to grant Sanger’s request, stating it was “very concerning to this court” that a member of the District Attorney’s Office posted on social media about a pending case.