Colorado Funeral Home Owner Sentenced to 20 Years for Fraud

A Colorado funeral home owner was sentenced to 20 years in prison for storing nearly 190 dead bodies in a decrepit building and defrauding customers and the government of almost $900,000 in Covid-19 aid. Jon Hallford, the owner of Return to Nature funeral home, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and will also be sentenced in a separate state case for corpse abuse. The bodies were found stacked in a bug-infested building, revealing to families that their loved ones were not cremated and the ashes they received were fake. Some families shared the impact of this discovery on their grieving processes during the sentencing.

Federal prosecutors accused the Hallfords of misusing pandemic aid for personal expenses like luxury cars, cryptocurrency, and designer items. Witnesses described the horrific conditions inside the building where bodies were piled high and in various states of decay. The sentencing was higher than what the prosecution requested and Hallford expressed remorse for his actions.

According to the source: The Guardian.