Funeral Home lied about cremations. Nearly 200 bodies found (1 Viewer)

[Optimus Prime]

The couple who owned a Colorado funeral home – where 190 decaying bodies were discovered last year – have been indicted on federal charges for fraudulently obtaining nearly $900,000 in pandemic relief funds from the US government, according to court documents unsealed on Monday.

The new federal charges against Jon and Carie Hallford add to charges in Colorado state court for abusing corpses. The 15 fraud charges filed against each of the Hallfords carry potential penalties of 20 years in prison and $250,000 in fines, according to the indictment.

The Hallfords did not have attorneys listed yet for the federal charges.…..

Owners of Colorado funeral home where 190 bodies were found charged with Covid fraud

Jon and Carie Hallford accused of fraudulently obtaining nearly $900,000 in pandemic relief funds from US government

www.theguardian.com

 

[Madmarsha]

Good gracious…..I remember “ask the mortician” (she is on youtube) covering something similar and it was pretty gnarly. Whew

Yeah, this is amazingly not that uncommon. I used to listen to her.

 

[Swamprat]

Yeah, this is amazingly not that uncommon. I used to listen to her.

Ahh… now we know the rest of the story!

TIL - the reason MM knew of all the deaths before anyone else is because she had insider info… now, not so much!

 

[Consigliere]

Jesus

They found his body ... there?

 

[Optimus Prime]

After the discovery of nearly 200 decaying bodies in a Colorado funeral home in October, lawmakers saw the need to tighten the state’s lax funeral home oversight and on Monday passed a bill that – in combination with a second bill that passed last week – would help to regulate the industry.

A series of cases that include sold ashes and fake body parts have devastated hundreds of already grieving families and shed a glaring spotlight on the state’s funeral home regulations, some of the weakest in the nation. The bill passed Monday will head to Governor Jared Polis’s desk after the House considers a minor change by the Senate.

The legislation would give regulators greater enforcement power over funeral homes and require the routine inspection of facilities including after one shutters.

The second bill, which is already headed to the governors’ desk, would require funeral directors and other industry roles to be licensed. Those qualifications would include background checks, degrees in mortuary science, passage of a national examination and work experience.……

Colorado cracks down on funeral homes after discoveries of rotting bodies

Lawmakers pass bill to regulate industry after 190 decomposing bodies found in bug-infested facility and another found in hearse

www.theguardian.com

 

[Optimus Prime]

The Colorado couple who owned a funeral home where 190 decaying bodies were discovered last year were ordered to pay $950m to the victims’ families – a largely symbolic victory for families of the deceased.

According to an email sent to victims by Leventhal Lewis, the firm that filed the lawsuit, it is the largest judgment in Colorado’s history.

The judgment is unlikely to be paid out, since the funeral home was long plagued by financial difficulties. However, Jon and Carie Hallford, who own the Return to Nature funeral home, still face criminal charges in a separate case.


“I’m never going to get a dime from them, so, I don’t know, it’s a little frustrating,” said Crystina Page, who had hired the funeral home to cremate her son’s remains in 2019.

She carried the urn she thought held his ashes until the news arrived that his body had been identified in the Return to Nature facility, four years after his death. “If nothing else,” she said, this judgement “will bring more understanding to the case.”

“I’m hoping it’ll make people go, ‘Oh, wow, this isn’t just about ashes.’”……….

Owners of Colorado funeral home where 190 bodies found ordered to pay $950m

Jon and Carie Hallford found liable as court rules for victims’ families – but amount unlikely to be paid out

www.theguardian.com

 

[Optimus Prime]

Colorado funeral home owners accused of misspending nearly $900,000 in pandemic relief funds and living lavishly, all while allegedly storing 190 decaying bodies in a building and sending grieving families fake ashes, pleaded guilty on Thursday to federal fraud charges for defrauding customers.

Jon and Carie Hallford each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The plea agreement, which stipulates that prosecutors will not request more than 15 years imprisonment, still has to be approved by the judge. It’s unclear when that will happen.

The owners of Return to Nature Funeral Home, about an hour’s drive south of Denver, had been charged with 15 federal offenses related to defrauding the US government and the funeral home’s customers.

More than 200 criminal counts are already pending against them in Colorado state court, including for corpse abuse and forgery.……

Owners of Colorado funeral home that hid 190 decaying bodies plead guilty

Jon and Carie Hallford accused of sending grieving families fake ashes and misspending nearly $900,000 in relief funds

www.theguardian.com