A 45 -year -old American was sentenced to twenty in prison and to pay more than a million dollars in compensation after defrauding his customers and unduly affected government aid during the pandemic. This owner of a funeral company in Colorado stored at least 190 body of deceased when it was supposed to prepare or incinerate them, reports the Associated Press. Instead, he returned to the families of the ballot boxes containing false ashes.
The decomposing corpses were piled up in a building, out of sight. “He had taken measures to hide the nature of his activities by blocking windows and doors, restricting access to the building and providing false explanations as to the foul odor that emerged from the place,” said the Colorado district prosecutor’s office in a press release. These are neighbors who had alerted the authorities. On site, FBI agents had discovered bodies on top of each other to the ceiling, infested with insects.
$ 130,000 perceived from families
“In many cases, it has falsified the identity of the deceased with third -party crematories, which has given rise to inaccurate cremation registers, or the remains have never been incined or buried,” continues the prosecutor. The ballot boxes were often filled with concrete and, twice at least, the professional prepared and delivered the bad body for the burial.
Between September 2019 and October 2023, the accused and his wife received at least 130,000 dollars from bereaved families. Several of them followed one another at the court of the court to testify to their distress. “While the bodies were rotting in secret, they lived, laughed and dine,” a victim. My mother’s cremation money probably served to pay a cocktail, a day at the spa and a first class flight. ”
“He had no respect”
Because the couple led high train thanks to the money perceived from customers but also to the 882,300 dollars of aid claimed to support their activity. “Deeply bereaved families have entrusted this accused with the remains of their loved ones. In return, he had no respect for the dignity and the respect they deserved, ”said Mark Michalek, special agent of the FBI. “He plotted and swindled these families and the government in an abject manner to satisfy his own desires and ambitions. We cannot repair the immense harm he has caused, but we can do justice today. »»
“This is not an ordinary case,” said the judge during the trial. The wife will in turn be tried in September, also for 191 counts of mistreatment of corpses.
