SACRAMENTO — America was good to Constantine Pappadopoulos, but not quite good enough.

He arrived here from Greece in the late 1960s, a bright young man possessing little more than pocket change and a zeal to get ahead. Within 20 years, he had done just that, earning a fortune in the land development business and a place among Sacramento's elite.

But on June 3, his life of accomplishment crumbled as a jury convicted Pappadopoulos, known as Koko, and his wife, Katherine, of arson in the torching of their $3-million mansion. Facing a future behind bars, the millionaire chose another course--fleeing to Greece and abandoning the land where he had achieved so much.

Pappadopoulos says he returned home in search of proof that will clear his name. But he has left a distraught wife facing 10 years in prison and his son Demetri, who graduated from high school last month without a father in the crowd.

And then there are the developer's friends, neighbors, fellow church members and business partners. How, they were left to wonder, could the devout, dedicated entrepreneur they knew have gone so far astray?

"He jumped bail and fled and basically left his wife here holding the bag," said attorney Donald Heller, an old friend who represented Pappadopoulos at the arson trial and had planned to appeal the conviction. "This whole thing is just a tragedy. I believe in our system and when someone disregards it, it's very disturbing."

Prosecutors are also disturbed. Just two days after a federal court jury handed them a major victory by convicting the couple, Pappadopoulos--who had surrendered his passport as a condition of remaining free on bail--somehow managed to hop a plane to Athens.

Because a treaty prevents the United States from extraditing Greek citizens, prosecutors face long odds in their quest to bring the fugitive back. This fact is not lost on Pappadopoulos, 49, who placed a telephone call to the U.S. attorney's office shortly after leaving town.

"He called to let us know he was in Greece, so we wouldn't waste a lot of time running around looking for him," U.S. Atty. Robert M. Twiss said in an interview. "His attitude was kind of an in-your-face thing. He said he wasn't coming back, and he even faxed us . . . his travel itinerary and boarding pass."