Lori Laatsch is a free woman again.
Laatsch, whose unsuccessful  bid to get control of the lucrative Derzon Coins business sparked eight years of litigation, was jailed Oct. 6 for contempt of court when she failed to produce financial records and assets despite a court order demanding that she do so.
Milwaukee County Judge David Borowski freed Laatsch Thursday, even though she still has not turned over all the financial records. Borowski's action came after attorneys told him they were negotiating a settlement between the Derzon estate and Laatsch.
In May, Borowski ordered Laatsch to pay the estate $1.2 million  to cover the legal and related expenses incurred by the estate as the result of her actions. The Derzon estate is seeking the records so it could collect on the judgment, and Laatsch is still required to turn over her financial records.
Laatsch has lost  every major decision in the case. In 2012, Milwaukee County Judge Jane Carroll threw out a will that gave Laatsch control of Derzon Coins, a West Allis business worth more than $1 million. The total estate was worth about $3 million when David Derzon, the founder of the company, died in 2007 at age 83.
His second wife, Rebecca Derzon, died the following year at age 59 after ingesting a fatal combination of pills and alcohol.  Though Laatsch and Rebecca Derzon were half-sisters, the women had gone decades without seeing each other. That changed shortly before David Derzon died when Laatsch reconnected with Rebecca Derzon.
Before Rebecca Derzon's death, Laatsch persuaded her to rewrite her will, cutting out David Derzon's two adult sons from a previous marriage and giving majority ownership of the family business to Laatsch. Rebecca Derzon, who was battling depression and substance abuse, signed that will even though it had the word draft stamped on it.