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Attorney: Indiana's caretaker was 'invaluable companion'

Attorney Tom Hallett said the caretaker, Jamie Thomas, put Indiana's financial house in order and took good care of Indiana before he died last year at 89.

Credit: AP

FILE - In this Sept. 24, 2013, file photo, artist Robert Indiana, known for his LOVE artwork, poses in front of that painting at New York's Whitney Museum of American Art. Court documents indicate pop artist Robert Indiana had $13 million in the bank even as his house sank into disrepair before his death. Documents filed Wednesday, August 14, 2019 by Indiana’s estate alleged his aide, Jamie Thomas, was not a selfless caregiver. (AP Photo/Lauren Casselberry, File)

ROCKLAND, Maine — The attorney for Robert Indiana's caretaker denies allegations this week that the man took advantage of the artist.

Attorney Tom Hallett said the caretaker, Jamie Thomas, put Indiana's financial house in order and took good care of Indiana before he died last year at 89 at home on Vinalhaven Island.

RELATED: Docs: Robert Indiana had $13M in bank as house crumbled

Court documents filed by Indiana's estate claim Thomas "lined his pockets," claimed as gifts more than 100 of Indiana's works, and let Indiana live in "squalor and filth."

Hallett said Thomas was an "invaluable companion" and that the documents "exhibit a dangerous, knowing and willful disregard of the truth."

Thomas is seeking $2 million from the estate for legal fees. Thomas and the estate are being sued by a company that held the copyright for Indiana's "LOVE" series.