A veteran prosecutor testified Thursday about the fear and threats that began after he aggressively worked to get the bail of white-collar criminal Anthony Navarro Spencer raised to $1 million after his arrest for a real-estate scam.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Marc Leventhal testified in Ventura County Superior Court that he believed the defendant's wife, Sandra, was trying to have him killed after he raised the bail.

Leventhal said her efforts to get her husband out of jail were "extraordinary" and included sending gang members from outside the county to rob five banks in Camarillo, Santa Paula and Ventura to steal money for Anthony Spencer's bail.

Leventhal testified during the preliminary hearing of Sandra Espinoza Spencer, 40, and Gonzalo Mesa Jr., 31, who are charged with attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Sandra Spencer also is charged with soliciting Leventhal's murder.

A third co-defendant, Benny Figueroa, 31, also is charged with attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 10.

According to authorities, the suspected plot was uncovered when two bank-robbers-turned-informants, Victor Brown and Pablo Cruz, alleged that Sandra Spencer hired Mesa and Figueroa.

The informants told the FBI that the two hit men had an AK-47, a bulletproof vest and 1,000 rounds of ammunition ready to do the job.

Defense lawyers Philip Gunnels and Robert "Bobby" Schwartz argued that the informants made up that story and cut a deal with federal prosecutors to serve less prison time on bank-robbery charges.

"There is a monstrous motive for Mr. Brown and Mr. Cruz wanting to cut a deal," Gunnels, who represents Mesa, told the judge. "Outside their testimony, there is no independent corroborating testimony."

State Deputy Attorney General Rama R. Maline, who is prosecuting the case, told the judge that at least $50,000 was offered by Sandra Spencer to kill Leventhal.

Maline said she was obsessed with gathering personal information about Leventhal, including having Brown drive to where the prosecutor worked and getting Cruz to photograph him so the gunman could identify him as the intended target.

After two days of testimony and evidence, Ventura County Superior Court Judge John Dobroth said the informants "are credible enough" and found there is sufficient evidence for Sandra Spencer and Mesa to be held over for trial.

Testimony showed that Sandra Spencer, a former resident of Oak View, worked as a legal secretary for several area lawyers and also was employed at the Ventura County Bar Association. She and her husband were married in 2001.

Leventhal also testified about the investigation and prosecution of Anthony Spencer, who was accused of using a real estate scam to defraud people out of $2 million through his Santa Paula-based business. In 2005, he was sentenced to state prison for 14 years and eight months.

While under investigation for real estate fraud, Anthony Spencer was arrested in Riverside for using fake IDs, a misdemeanor, and his bond was set at $5,000, according to Leventhal. He testified about how he worked aggressively to raise Anthony Spencer's bail.

Leventhal got Anthony's Spencer's bond up to $1 million after charges were filed on the real estate fraud case in Ventura County. At his bail-reduction hearings, Spencer's wife always showed up, glared, "bad mouthed" and sometimes cursed at him, Leventhal said.

He said the "tense" court appearances were "disturbing and unnerving," especially when Sandra Spencer showed up with three men, including Anthony Spencer's brother, Alfred, and bank robber Victor Brown to pledge money or property for Anthony Spencer's bail.

Leventhal said there were lies and fraud involved when Sandra Spencer and others were engaged at the bail-reduction hearings. The assets or cash posted were illegitimate or fraudulently obtained, he said.

In 2005, Leventhal discovered — through another prosecutor who was involved in the bank robbery investigations in Ventura County — that they were linked to the Anthony Navarro Spencer case.

"The bank robberies were motivated to fund Navarro's bail," Leventhal testified.

Police arrested Brown on Jan. 12, 2005, in possession of $22,000, a loaded gun and methamphetamine in Ventura County, according to Leventhal.

Brown and his bank-robbing partner, Cruz, later told the FBI of the plot to kill Leventhal.

On April 11, 2005, Leventhal said that during the investigation of Sandra Spencer, he got three calls. The first two were hang-up calls, and the third call was a recording of automatic gunfire that lasted 10 to 15 seconds.

"I continue to be terrified," Leventhal said.