A Colorado judge has rejected a plea deal for a funeral home owner accused of mishandling nearly 190 bodies. The judge felt that the proposed 15- to 20-year sentence was not harsh enough, given the serious nature of the crimes.
Carie Hallford and her husband, Jon Hallford, ran Return to Nature Funeral Home. They are accused of improperly storing bodies between 2019 and 2023 and giving families fake ashes.
Both initially pleaded guilty to numerous counts of abuse of a corpse. However, after family members of the deceased spoke out against the plea agreement, arguing it was too lenient, the judge rejected the deal. Some families asked for a prison sentence of almost 200 years for Carie Hallford, seeking a year for each body.
Carie Hallford has since withdrawn her guilty plea, and a trial is scheduled for next year. Jon Hallford also withdrew his guilty plea and will face trial.
Adding to their offenses, the Hallfords have admitted to defrauding the U.S. Small Business Administration out of nearly $900,000 in pandemic relief funds. They also took payments from customers for cremation services they never performed, spending the money on personal luxuries. Jon Hallford has already been sentenced to 20 years in prison on the federal charges, and Carie Hallford awaits sentencing.
