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.
Donna Herring and Marion “Diane” Kinley have until Nov. 15 to to compile their reports lobbying for a lighter sentence in connection with the scheme to create a fake will for Matthew Seth Jacobs.
Jacobs 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.
As you may recall, Herring is the former Camden real estate agent who orchestrated the crime in order to get her hands on Jacobs’ estate, worth $1.7 million. She pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in El Dorado way back in January.
Herring’s sister, Kinley, of Camden, also pleaded guilty to her role in the crime on April 30.
Herring’s attorney, Erin Cassinelli of Lassiter & Cassinelli of Little Rock, and Kinley’s attorney, Bruce Eddy, a federal public defender in Fayetteville, filed a joint motion on Oct. 26 asking for more time to file their reports, which were first due on Oct. 15 but had been extended to Oct. 31.
“The facts of this case are intricate and some are in dispute, making a detailed sentencing memorandum necessary but its preparation tedious,” the filing said.
The attorneys said travel is often necessary to obtain information, as neither attorney has an office near where the crime happened. “The discovery file in this matter is voluminous and requires computer technical support to review and locate information, which is time-consuming,” the filing said.
The attorneys asked that the deadline to submit their reports be extended to Nov. 30.
U.S. District Court Judge Susan O. Hickey said the new deadline will be Nov. 15, and responses to the reports will be due within a week.
She added that no more extensions will be granted.
We are still waiting on sentencing dates for Herring’s daughter, Jordan Alexandra “Alex” Peterson, and Kinley’s husband, John Wayne Kinley Jr., who have also pleaded guilty in connection with their roles in the case.
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