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A funeral home owner in Colorado was sentenced to 20 years in prison after being found guilty of storing nearly 190 dead bodies in a dilapidated building and providing fake ashes to bereaved families. This incident also involved defrauding the federal government of almost $900,000 in COVID-19 relief funds.
Jon Hallford, owner of Return to Nature Funeral Home, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in federal court last year.
Separately, Hallford pleaded guilty to 191 counts of corpse abuse in state court and will be sentenced in August.
Jon Hallford’s lawyer, Laura H. Suelau, requested a reduced sentence of 10 years during the sentencing hearing, arguing that Hallford acknowledged his wrongdoing and has not made any excuses for his actions.
His sentencing in the state case is scheduled in August.
Asking for a 15 year sentence for Hallford, Assistant US Attorney Tim Neff described the scene inside the building.
Investigators couldn’t move into some rooms because the bodies were piled so high and in various states of decay.
FBI agents had to put boards down so they could walk above the fluid, which was later pumped out.
Carie Hallford is due to face trial in the federal case in September. At the same time, she is set for her next hearing in the state case, where she faces 191 charges related to corpse abuse.
