Grand Jury Rules Sibling Left Out Of Authentic Will

A federal grand jury indicted Allentown PA lawyer John Karoly last week, charging him with fabricating wills supposedly drafted by his brother and sister-in-law who perished in a February 2007 plane crash.

Charges allege conspiracy between John Karoly, Jr., 58, his son, John "J. P." Karoly III, 28, and Dr. John J. Shane, 72, in a plot to submit counterfeit wills "designed to seize proceeds of the estates from their rightful heirs," reports The Legal Intelligencer. Shane is the sole witness on the wills.

Claiming the three's innocence, defense lawyer Robert Goldman said Karoly has been targeted due to his prominence and success in lawsuits against police departments. The case "marks the first time in the history of the FBI that they directed their focus and energies to take sides in a family dispute to investigate and prosecute a will contest matter," Goldman said.

Formerly practicing law together as Karoly and Karoly, brothers John and Peter Karoly went their separate ways in March 1986, due to "unhappy differences."

Peter Karoly and his wife, Lauren Angstadt had since drafted wills that "generally divided their estates among their siblings, but which excluded defendant John Karoly as an heir," the indictment says.

As ANN reported, Peter Karoly, Lauren Angstadt and Mike Milot, a pilot for Karoly's firm, were fatally injured when their Socata TBM 700 impacted terrain during a missed approach to New Bedford Regional Airport (EWB) in New Bedford, MA.

The aircraft had missed its first approach while trying to make an instruments-only landing in the wet, foggy weather, and crashed on the second approach at about 7:45 pm, according to FAA spokesman Jim Peters. At the time of the crash, the temperature was 33 to 34 degrees at the airport, and there was rain and fog. Cloud cover was at 200 feet and visibility was one mile, said NTSB investigator Robert J. Gretz.

FMI: Read The NTSB Probable Cause Report