One of two former owners of a Colorado funeral home found guilty of abusing corpses has taken a federal plea deal on a wire fraud charge, multiple news organizations reported.
Carie and Jon Hallford, who operated Return to Nature Funeral Home, faced both state and federal charges in connection with the gruesome case in which authorities discovered nearly 200 decomposing bodies at their Penrose, Colorado, facility, CBS News and other news outlets reported.
The couple, who had pleaded guilty to 190 counts of corpse abuse, are being tried separately, according to CBS. With the deal, Carie Hallford admitted to defrauding clients and cheating the federal government out of more than $882,000 by lying to the U.S. Small Business Administration in loan applications, the Associated Press reported.
A plea deal made by Carie Hallford in 2024 was rejected by a judge, the news agency said, adding that she faces up to 20 years behind bars as part of her new deal. But federal prosecutors have said they will push for a 15-year sentence.
For the families whose loved ones were affected, that was not nearly enough.
