THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 1, 1996 TAG: 9602010289
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARC DAVIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
An insurance agent who cared for a rich, elderly spinster in her dying days, then produced a will that put him in control of her $5 million estate, has pleaded guilty to forging the will.
But under terms of the plea agreement, William A. Stafford II probably will spend no time in jail and can continue to claim that he didn't really do it.
Stafford, 50, pleaded guilty Monday to forging the will of Celia Stern after the 93-year-old woman died in her Oceanfront condominium in December 1992.
He also pleaded guilty to forging a deed in which Stern purportedly gave him her condo for free three days before she died, as well as trying to pass off the deed as genuine.
Stafford entered an Alford plea, which means he agreed that the evidence against him is strong enough for a conviction, but he maintains that he really didn't do it.
The plea agreement calls for a two-year suspended jail sentence. Stafford will be formally sentenced March 25.
State sentencing guidelines do not recommend prison or jail time for someone convicted of forgery, said prosecutor Albert Alberi, who handled the case.
In an unusual twist, the plea agreement lets Stafford's attorney ask the judge at sentencing to reduce the three charges to misdemeanors: attempting to obtain property worth less than $200 by false pretenses.
``I'm going to oppose that very strongly,'' Alberi said.
Stern's estate was worth more than $5 million. Most of it was invested at Merrill Lynch; some was in property in Norfolk, Virginia Beach and Washington. In her younger days, she owned a restaurant supply company in Norfolk with her brother.
Stafford, formerly of Virginia Beach but now living in Waldorf, Md., could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
In a 1993 interview, he said he met Stern about six years before her death and he cared for her when no one else would. ``If she had a reason to trust me or believe in me, it's because I never took anything from her,'' he said. ``Nobody's going to accuse Bill Stafford of stealing 5 cents from an old lady.''
The case began almost immediately after Stern died at Oceans Condominium. She had no immediate survivors. She never married and had no children.
Quickly, two wills emerged. In both, Stern left all her money to charity, but the wills differed in one significant way.
One will was held by Norfolk lawyer Peter G. Decker Jr. It was dated Feb. 17, 1992, about 10 months before Stern died. It named Decker executor and did not specify which charities should get the money.
Stafford held a will dated Dec. 1, three weeks before Stern died. It named Stafford executor and it listed 12 charities that should get the money. Eleven were well-known groups. The 12th was The AIDS Council, a tax-exempt corporation set up by Stafford that had no money and had done no charitable work.
A nasty court fight ensued. Decker and Stafford sued each other.
Eventually, the two men who signed as witnesses to the Stafford will and the condo deed admitted that they never saw Stern sign the documents. One said he never met Stern. Both said they signed the documents in Stafford's home after Stern died.
A judge then declared the Stafford will invalid.
Since then, Decker has given away or committed all of Stern's millions to scores of local and national charities. Decker also has collected a $286,000 fee as executor - about 5 percent of the total estate, which is the usual rate for local executors.
If the case had gone to trial, prosecutors would have had two stumbling blocks to overcome.
First, both sides had handwriting experts to testify about the validity of Stern's signatures. They might have canceled each other out. Second, the two ``witnesses'' to the will who admitted the forgery might have been discredited by their prior statements that the will was genuine. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Celia Stern
KEYWORDS: FORGERY CONVICTION WILL by CNB