Superseding indictment filed in fraud case
The Camden News has learned that a second superseding indictment has been filed against Donna Christina Herring, John Wayne Kinley Jr., Marion Diane Kinley and Jordan Alexandra Peterson. The action is over a lawsuit regarding charges of fraud and conspiracy after the group created a fake last will and testament in the days after the death of Camden resident and Deepwater Horizon survivor Matthew Seth Jacobs.
Documents filed in the U.S. District Court Western District of Arkansas in El Dorado show that the indictment was filed on July 26.
A superseding indictment is one that takes precedence over and replaces a previous indictment, according to www.reference.com/government-politics/law. These indictments are usually filed when new evidence has been found and new charges need to be filed.
The website also states that a prosecutor can obtain a superseding indictment to charge the defendant with any remaining charges.
The executor of the Estate of Matthew Seth Jacobs, Laurence Reed, brought the suit against Donna Herring, Doug Herring, Jordan “Alex” Peterson, John Wayne Kinley Jr., Marion “Diane” Kinley, and Dennis Davis for fraud/conspiracy, constructive trust, injunctive relief, and civil damage for
forgery. The complaint stated that the document that Herring produced was created through the legal document website www.formswift.com. The e-mail address used on the website belonged to Herring and the services were paid for with a credit card belonging to John Kinley Jr.
Jacobs died in an automobile accident at the age of 34 on Jan. 19, 2015. In 2010, he was injured in an oil-rig explosion and received a multi-million-dollar settlement, which was payable beginning April 2012.
After Jacobs’ death,
his son - along with Matthew Jacobs' brother, Laurence Reed searched Jacobs home for his last will and testament, but were unable to locate it. On Jan. 25, 2015, Donna Herring claimed to discover a sealed envelope containing a duplicate of the will and testament. She reportedly refused to show the purported last will and testament to Jordan Jacobs and Reed. Herring instead persuaded Reed to give the sealed envelope to a local lawyer who was subsequently engaged to represent Peterson Herring's daughter - in the probate case related to Jacobs’ estate.
Peterson had reportedly been engaged to Jacobs but at the time of
his death, he was dating someone else, according to filed documents.
Upon discovering the creation of the will after Jacobs’ death, the information was given to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The civil suit stated that the estate charged the defendants with fraud and conspiracy because they allegedly knowingly conspired to create, execute, and witness the purported last will and testament of Matthew Jacobs following his death, as well as knowingly conspired to misrepresent the document as valid.
In April, Judge Spencer Singleton of the 2nd Division of the Circuit Court of Ouachita County threw out the will in question.
Singleton held a hearing in the court’s probate division in March about the authenticity of the will - an issue raised by Jacobs’ son.
The second superseding indictment against Donna Christina Herring now includes charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and five counts of money laundering.
Against John Wayne Kinley Jr., and Marion Diane Kinley the charges are: Conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft.
In connection to Jordan Alexandra Peterson, the charges include: Conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering, giving a false
statement, and obstruction.
The false statement charge stems from Peterson telling investigators that she did not know the whereabouts of Jacobs cell phone. The charge of obstruction was filed because it was later learned that Peterson "did corruptly alter, destroy, mutilate and conceal" Jacobs' cell phone "with the intent to impair its integrity and availability for use in an official proceeding," the documents state.
The records also show that more documents about the superseding indictment were filed on July 26 and July 27. However, access to those documents have only been made available to "case participants and court users."
Papers filed throughout the investigation show that on or around Aug. 20, 2015, until around Dec. 17, 2015, Donna Herring and Peterson fraudulently obtained a settlement of the estate due to the false will. They then reportedly gained custody and control of checks totaling more than $1 million.
Peterson then "gained custody and control" of personal property including side-by-side vehicles, Miller Bobcat equipment, a pontoon boat, multiple firearms, a Jeep Wrangler and other vehicles, and household furnishings. She also gained control of property in Arkadelphia and Camden that are valued at more than $310,000.