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Colorado Funeral Home Owner Gets 40 Years for Abusing 189 Bodies

The scandal forced Colorado to toughen funeral-home regulation.

Overview

  • Judge Eric Bentley sentenced Jon Hallford to 40 years in state prison after his December guilty plea to nearly 200 counts of abusing a corpse.
  • Investigators found 189 remains stored at room temperature in a Penrose building from 2019 to 2023, and families were given material resembling ashes that officials say was dry concrete.
  • Relatives described severe emotional harm after learning the truth, with months-long identifications conducted through fingerprints, DNA, hospital bracelets and medical implants.
  • Hallford previously received a 20-year federal sentence for defrauding the government of nearly $900,000 in pandemic aid as authorities detailed lavish spending on vehicles, designer goods and cryptocurrency.
  • Co-owner and former wife Carie Hallford faces state sentencing on April 24 after pleading guilty to similar charges, with her federal sentencing scheduled for March 16.