ALLENTOWN, Pa.—An eastern Pennsylvania court has upheld the wills filed by a now-disbarred attorney following the death of his brother and sister-in-law in a plane crash.

Other relatives had challenged the wills submitted in Northampton County Court by former Allentown attorney John Karoly Jr., who is serving a 6 1/2-year federal prison sentence on tax evasion and money laundering convictions.

Retired Bucks County President Judge Isaac Garb ruled Tuesday that they had failed to establish "by clear, direct, precise, and convincing evidence" that the wills were "forged and therefore invalid."

A 2008 federal grand jury accused Karoly of having fraudulently created 2006 wills for Peter Karoly and his wife, Lauren Angstat, who died in a plane crash in Massachusetts in February 2007. Prosecutors later dropped all will-related charges in a plea bargain.