Lawyer Jailed For Looting WWII Vet's Living Trust Now Charged With Stealing From 2 Ladies: Cops

A disgraced Mokena lawyer already in jail for allegedly looting $1 million from the living trust of a World War II veteran has now been charged with stealing from two women.

Tinley Park resident John Pleta, 56, allegedly stole more than $100,000 from a woman named Betty Lam and more than $500 from a woman named Joann Turner. He stole from June through September 2015 and from Lam from April through September 2013, according to criminal indictments on file in Will County court.

Pleta was arrested and booked into the Will County jail in December for allegedly stealing from the living trust of Isadore Tobianksy. Tobiansky died at at the age of 93 in January 2013. He enlisted in the military in February 1942.

The Illinois Attorney Registration & Disciplinary Commission suspended Pleta’s law license in January.

Pleta was charged with driving under the influence in June 2012, despite his alleged attempt to talk the arresting officer out of it by letting him know he is an attorney.

“While escorting John to my squad, he stated, ‘Do you really have to go there? I’m a lawyer, you know,’” an officer said, according to a police report.