DENVER (AP) — Colorado funeral home owners accused of misspending nearly $900,000 in COVID-19 pandemic relief funds have pleaded guilty to federal charges for defrauding customers.
Jon and Carie Hallford were charged with 15 federal offenses related to defrauding the U.S. government and the funeral home’s customers.
They are accused in a separate case of stashing 190 decaying bodies in a storage building and sending grieving families fake ashes.
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More than 200 criminal counts are already pending against them in Colorado state court, including for corpse abuse and forgery.
Court documents say the Hallfords used the pandemic aid to buy expensive cars, trips and cryptocurrency.
Return to Nature Funeral Home owners expected to plead guilty to COVID-19 fraud