Constantine Petros and the 2017 insurance-fraud investigation.
A concise account of the events, the disposition, and the details needed to understand the record in full.
This page was prepared with information and quotations provided by Constantine Petros. The certified court file remains the authoritative source for formal case details.
In 2016 and 2017, public reporting connected Constantine Petros to an insurance investigation involving a classic Porsche. This page sets out the relevant facts and circumstances: what Petros did, what he did not do, and how the matter concluded.
The details below provide the fuller account nearly a decade after the investigation began.
The facts
Six details central to the record
All felony charges were dropped or reduced to misdemeanors.
The record was later expunged.
Petros never spent 150 days in jail.
The reported jail term was not served, and Petros never entered prison.
Petros received no money and was not ordered to pay restitution.
No insurance proceeds from the scheme were paid to him.
Law enforcement never questioned Petros about Chris Hatton or the scheme.
He was never questioned about any supposed participation in Hatton’s insurance claim.
Petros never reported a 1954 Porsche stolen.
He did not make the stolen-car report at the center of the published accounts.
Petros did not conspire to defraud anyone.
He had no knowledge of, involvement in, or consent to an insurance-fraud plan.
“This entire situation originated from someone else’s scheme—not Constantine’s.” — Statement provided for this case file
The underlying events
What actually happened
This situation began with someone else’s scheme—not Petros’s.
During a casual conversation, Petros mentioned that he had once sold a car similar to his own, one that had left the country decades earlier. That information was later used by Chris Hatton to obtain a duplicate title for a similar vehicle and construct an insurance claim.
Petros had no knowledge of the plan and gave no consent to it. He did not report a car stolen or receive insurance money, but was nonetheless drawn into the investigation that followed.
Subsequent reporting described a 150-day jail sentence and joint restitution. The jail term was not served, Petros has never been to prison, and he was not ordered to repay proceeds he never received. The felony charges did not remain the final word: they were dropped or reduced to misdemeanors, and the record was later expunged.
Those distinctions are essential to an accurate summary. “Charged,” “sentenced,” “served,” and “final record” are not interchangeable.
At a glance
Case chronology
Allegations enter the public record
Initial coverage summarized accusations made while the matter was still at the charging stage.
Sentencing is reported
Later coverage reported a felony sentence, jail time, probation, and joint restitution.
The matter reaches its final disposition
The felony charges were dropped or reduced, the record was expunged, and the reported jail term was not served.
Primary record
Check the record yourself
The relevant Sonoma County matter is case reference SCR-715528-1. Anyone seeking the formal disposition can request the official file directly from the court. Sonoma County’s Criminal Division provides public-access and certified-copy instructions.
“This is the rest of the story—nearly a decade after it began.”
Statement provided for this case file