A Zionsville town councilor is facing calls to resign over allegations in a lawsuit filed by a former NBA player that accuse the town councilor of exploiting an elderly neighbor in her final days.
The lawsuit was filed against Sarah Sampson, a Republican elected to the Zionsville Town Council in 2023. Sampson, the other defendants in the lawsuit and their attorney did not return requests for comment from IndyStar before publication of this article.
Josh McRoberts, a former Indiana Pacer and Carmel High School standout, and his mother, Jennifer McRoberts, filed the lawsuit against Sampson on June 1. The lawsuit is in connection with property that was owned by Carolyn Pennington, who was the grandmother of Josh McRoberts and mother of Jennifer McRoberts.
Pennington died on May 6 at 85. She had lived at a property on Ford Road in Zionsville that included about seven acres of land.
“Defendants Jon and Sarah Sampson are neighbors,” reads the lawsuit. “For years they hounded Carolyn in an attempt to buy the Ford Road property. Carolyn [Pennington] and the Sampsons have never been friendly.”
In October 2025, Pennington moved to an assisted living facility in Carmel as she could no longer care for herself, her home or her dogs. While at the facility, two mental examinations indicated Pennington may have had dementia, according to the lawsuit.
Jennifer McRoberts visited her mother often and took her out of the assisted living facility to visit her dogs, but problems started when Jennifer McRoberts went on a planned vacation for a few days, the complaint reads.
Pennington called the police claiming that Jennifer McRoberts was going to get rid of Pennington’s dogs, which was not true. But when Jennifer McRoberts returned from her vacation, her mother had been taken out of the assisted living facility by Sarah Sampson, the Zionsville town councilor and Pennington’s neighbor, the lawsuit reads.
The assisted living facility called the police, then Sarah Sampson told the facility that Pennington was staying with her.
“Sarah [Sampson] told the police that Carolyn had 24/7 medical care; also not true,” the lawsuit reads. “Instead, Sarah [Sampson] isolated Carolyn (Pennington) at a separate home Sarah owned where there were no caregivers and no monitoring.”
For almost the last month of her life, Pennington was prevented from speaking or meeting with any member of her family by Sarah Sampson, the lawsuit reads. Sarah Sampson did not notify the family when Pennington died and instead arranged for the body to be embalmed, which the lawsuit says prevented an autopsy from occurring to determine the cause of death.
“[Sampson’s] potential responsibility for causing the death of Carolyn might never be known,” the lawsuit reads.
About two weeks before her death, after she was taken out of the assisted living facility by Sarah Sampson, an attorney worked with Pennington on a new Will and other legal documents despite warnings from Jennifer McRoberts and Josh McRoberts that Pennington was not healthy enough to go forward with those actions, the complaint states.
But that attorney had relied on outdated documents to create the new Will and other legal documents, the lawsuit reads.
“This speaks volumes to [Pennington’s] lack of awareness and capacity to address any changes to her legal documents and the Defendants’ undue influence and ignorance of the situation,” the lawsuit reads.
On April 30, Pennington was in the hospital and signed a deed conveying her property on Ford Road to Sarah Sampson and Jon Sampson for $750,000, which was significantly below its fair market value, according to the filing.
The lawsuit alleges that Pennington was not of sound mind to contest that and other legal documents from April and May of 2026, in the weeks before her death. It also alleges that Pennington “lacked the mental strength to overcome the undue influence of” Sarah Sampson and the other defendants.
“[The defendants] abused that relationship to [Pennington’s] detriment and caused damage, such that all purported transfers are presumed to be the product of undue influence and constructive fraud,” the lawsuit reads.
The lawsuit also names Michael Einterz, the attorney who worked with Pennington on the legal documents, such as her Will, in the final months of her life, as a defendant.
“Whether or not of sound mind, a prudent attorney would have contacted her physician, or recommended Carolyn [Pennington] undergo a mental examination before signing anything in April or May of 2026, much less while in the hospital less than a week before she died,” the lawsuit reads.
Einterz did not return a request for comment from IndyStar before publication of this article. The defendants have not yet filed an answer to the complaint in the lawsuit.
Who is calling for Sarah Sampson’s resignation?
The Boone County Democratic Party has called for Sampson to resign because of the allegations in the lawsuit filed against her.
“While this case involves personal issues, the allegations raise significant and pressing questions about Mrs. Sampson’s capacity, capability and qualifications to continue to represent the people of Zionsville on the Town Council,” reads a Facebook post from the countywide democratic party. “As a party, we believe in the legal process and in the long-standing American principle that no one is above the law. Accordingly, the Boone County Democratic Party calls on Sarah Sampson to resign from the Zionsville Town Council immediately. We also call on the Boone County Republican Party to join us in demanding her resignation.”
The Boone County Republican Party did not respond to requests for comment from IndyStar before publication of this article.
Contact Jake Allen at jake.allen@indystar.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @Jake_Allen19. Click here to get Hamilton County news sent straight to your inbox and subscribe to the IndyStar North newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Zionsville councilor exploited elderly neighbor, ex-NBA player says in lawsuit
Reporting by Jake Allen, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
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By Jake Allen, Indianapolis Star | USA TODAY Network
