Son of Former Judge Accused of Financial Exploitation of Grandmother's Estate

A Louisiana man faces a felony charge after authorities said he illegally diverted money from his deceased grandmother's estate for personal use.

William Ray Vance Jr., 49, has been charged with misapplication of fiduciary property of an amount between $20,000 and $100,000. That is a third-degree felony punishable by between two and 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Vance is the son of former judge Bill Vance, who served on the 10th Court of Appeals in Waco from 1991 to 2008. The elder Vance has also been Brazos County judge and worked as an assistant district attorney.

Court records show that William Vance Jr. was indicted by a Brazos County grand jury on April 26. He turned himself in to the Brazos County Sheriff's Office on Monday, but posted $15,000 bail within an hour and was released.

His indictment alleges that he took money from the estate of Florene K. Grace through a scheme that lasted from February 2007 to February 2009. Details about how much money he allegedly took or how he used it were not included in the indictment, other than that it was "in a manner that involved substantial risk of loss of the property."

But court documents indicate that Vance has been involved in a legal dispute with his mother, Carolyn Vance, for years. Carolyn Vance filed suit against her son in 2009, alleging that she owned 66 percent of a radio station in Nacogdoches that he operated. She said in the suit that her son failed to notify her that he received $725,000 from a "facilities modification agreement" for the radio station.

The suit also says that a disagreement arose between Vance and his mother over the ownership of the family's radio company and complains that he was improperly named the executor of his grandmother's will, of which Carolyn Vance was the sole beneficiary.

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Son of Former County Judge Allegedly Abused Grandmother's Estate