Camden Couple Plead Guilty to Witnessing Fake Will

Donna Herring is accused of creating a fake will for Matthew Jacobs, a survivor of the Deepwater Horizon explosion, days after he died in an automobile crash in January 2015. The trial is scheduled to begin Feb. 5 in El Dorado.

John Wayne Kinley Jr. and Marion “Diane” Kinley, both of Camden, pleaded guilty Monday to their role as witnesses to what they knew was a fake will.

John Wayne Kinley pleaded guilty in federal court in El Dorado to one count of wire fraud, while his wife pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Arkansas Business reported April 23 that the couple would plead guilty.

The Kinleys had served as witnesses to a will drawn up by Diane Kinley’s sister, Donna Herring, after the death of Matthew Seth Jacobs, who had dated Herring’s daughter, Jordan Alexandra “Alex” Peterson. Jacobs had survived the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion in 2010 and had received sizable legal settlements before he died at 34 in a one-car accident in January 2015.

More: Read John Wayne Kinley’s plea agreement | Read Marion Kinley’s plea agreement

Days after Jacobs’ death, Herring used an online will-drafting service to draw up a will leaving most of Jacobs’ $1.7 million estate to her daughter. The will left only $50,000 to Jacobs’ only child, although Peterson later agreed to give the son another $250,000 and some of his fathers’ personal property.

Peterson received almost $1.4 million, which is the amount of the loss that will be used to calculate the Kinleys sentences at a later date.

Both Herring and Peterson had previously pleaded guilty to their roles in the scheme.

According to their plea agreement, Diane Kinley allowed her sister, Herring, to use her credit card to pay for the will and then, with her husband, signed the will as witnesses “when at the time all three knew that Jacobs was deceased.”

Their crimes carry maximum sentences of 20 years in federal prison and $250,000 fines, but defendants who plead guilty typically get lighter sentences for accepting responsibility.