Carbon man given jail term for taking money from estate he was administrator

A Carbon County man was sentenced to a prison term on Tuesday in Carbon County court after previously admitting he stole money from an estate he was appointed to be the administrator of.

John Aloysius Doyle III, 40, of Lehighton, was sentenced by President Judge Roger N. Nanovic II to serve six to one day less 24 months in the county prison on a charge of theft, as a felony, followed by five years of probation. He also has a hefty restitution bill that he must repay to the estate of $30,466.07.

Lehighton police said Doyle was appointed administrator of the estate and given a check for over $130,000. A time later Doyle informed the lawyers in charge that he could no longer serve as administrator of the estate. He then sent them a check for about $79,000. Police arrested Doyle on Feb. 14, 2017.

As part of the plea agreement with the district attorney’s office, which was approved by the heirs of the estate, Doyle must make monthly payments on the restitution of $350. If he misses one payment, Nanovic warned, it would be a violation of his sentence and he could be put in jail to serve out the full term.

Public defender Matthew J. Mottola told the court part of the agreement also calls for Doyle to serve the prison term on consecutive weekends. He said this was because Doyle’s only income is from a Social Security disability claim. He said if Doyle served the time straight the benefits would stop. Mottola also said Doyle has medical issues. Another part of the agreement was that Doyle had to pay $1,000 toward the restitution before Tuesday’s proceeding, which he did, Mottola said.

Doyle apologized for what he did. When asked by Nanovic why he took the money, the defendant said he had been longtime friends with the deceased person and helped her. He claimed that she had told him that she would take care of him in her will but she died suddenly without doing it.

He admitted he took the money to live a better lifestyle than what he was accustomed to.

He added, “I messed up.”

Nanovic also noted in the presentence investigation report prepared by the adult probation office, it stated that Doyle was thought to be drunk, hooked on pills and spending money on painkillers while pocketing money from the estate.

Doyle denied most of the allegations but admitted he did use painkillers for a back injury. He also blamed the heirs of the estate for the allegations, saying they were upset because he was spending money out of the account and they were not able to.

Nanovic told him, “So you thought you were entitled to the money.”

Nanovic also ordered Doyle to supply a DNA sample, get both drug and alcohol and mental health evaluations and follow any recommendations for treatment, pay court costs of about $1,000, pay a $50 per month supervision fee while on parole and probation and zero tolerance imposed on the $350 monthly restitution payments.

He will begin the jail term at noon on July 14 and serve it in two-day increments, Sunday to Tuesday.