Colorado funeral home co-owner who hid nearly 200 bodies and gave families fake ashes seeks leniency at sentencing | Fortune

"Carie Hallford, 48, faces up to 20 years in prison for taking over $130,000 from families for funeral services, including cremations, and often giving them urns full of concrete mix instead. In two cases, investigators found the wrong body was buried. In August, she pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and admitted that she and her ex-husband Jon Hallford cheated customers and also defrauded the federal government out of nearly $900,000 in pandemic small business aid."

"Those who entrusted their loved ones to the Hallfords struggled with guilt, shame, nightmares and panic attacks since the bodies were discovered in 2023. They were stacked so high in some places that they blocked doorways. There were bugs and maggots. Buckets had been placed to catch leaking fluids."

"Carie Hallford decided to get a divorce after she was put back in jail in her state case in November 2024, which put her out of reach of her husband's constant calls and texts and allowed the 'fog in her mind from the years of abuse' to lift, according to a court filing by her lawyer, Robert Charles Melihercik."

Carie Hallford, 48, co-operated a funeral home with her ex-husband where nearly 200 decomposing bodies were hidden in a building. She took over $130,000 from grieving families for funeral services and cremations, often providing urns filled with concrete mix instead of remains. In two cases, wrong bodies were buried. The couple also defrauded the federal government of nearly $900,000 in pandemic small business aid. Hallford pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Families experienced lasting trauma including guilt, shame, nightmares, and panic attacks. Federal sentencing guidelines recommend up to eight years, but prosecutors seek 15 years, citing the exploitation of grieving people during one of the largest body discoveries at a U.S. funeral home.

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