A Colorado funeral home director accused of stealing and selling the body parts of hundreds of people has pleaded guilty to mail fraud. "Meeting with hospice on the 4th opening the floodgates of donors," Hess wrote to a prospective body-part buyer in 2014. One $ 124.95 . Louis Garzone even ran this scheme, the grand jury said, in the case of five children killed in a 2005 fire in Tacony, a tragedy that drew an offer from the musician Stevie Wonder to pay for the funerals. was not immediately clear if they had attorneys. PHILADELPHIA - Three funeral directors sold hundreds of bodies to a former oral surgeon who allegedly collected the bones, tissue and skin from the corpses to be used in . Joseph, was plundered before his April 2004 cremation. Philadelphia, Peruto said. While the mostly poor families thought their loved ones were being cremated, the bodies were often left unrefrigerated for days, sometimes in alleys beside the funeral home, until a cutter arrived, authorities said. woman who believes she contracted hepatitis from a tainted body I exceeded the scope of the consent and Im trying to make an effort to make it right, Ms. Hess said in United States District Court in Grand Junction, Colo., on Tuesday, according to The Daily Sentinel. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, Deli worker killed in apparent robbery on Upper East Side, Lori Lightfoot lost for failing Chicago not because voters are racist/sexist, Investigators want to exhume body of Alex Murdaughs dead housekeeper, Accused pedophile mayor called Pete Buttigieg his buddy and mentor, paid to have their late loved ones cremated. Megan Hess, 46, operated the Sunset Mesa funeral home in Montrose, Colorado, alongside a body-parts entity called Donor Services, where she undertook the grisly scheme, starting in 2010. Dion Rassias, an attorney for the James A. McCafferty Funeral Home, at Frankford and Unruh Avenues in Mayfair, said James McCafferty Jr. was not a director at his mother's funeral home. conspiracy, they said. husband's body parts.". Donate bone marrow for up to $3,000. As part of his Despite surrendering their licenses, the two Garzone funeral homes have continued operating under the control of a third brother, James, who revived a dormant Pennsylvania funeral home director license. parts, Peruto said. Friday, April 4, 2008. Hess forged dozens of body donor consent forms, federal investigators found. The funeral directors were in charge of getting consent. The Garzone brothers voluntarily surrendered their funeral director licenses last year, and the state revoked McCafferty's in an unrelated case about a month ago, officials said. A Colorado-based funeral home director has been sentenced to 20 years in prison stemming from a litany of charges including fraud and illegally selling the body parts or bodies of approximately 500 individuals whose families did not consent to that practice.. Megan Hess, 46, who supervised the Sunset Mesa Funeral Home in Montrose, Colorado, recently pleaded guilty to mail fraud and aiding . However, it isn't clear whether what they were allegedly doing is illegal in any way . Human Corpse Being Transported to Funeral Home Ejected from Van in Pileup on N.J. Freeway. But the sale of cadavers and body parts for use in research or education, which is what Hess did, is not regulated by federal law. About a month after the Reuters stories, the FBI raided the site and state regulators shuttered the funeral home and crematory. As with other commodities, prices for bodies and body parts fluctuate with market conditions. He did not appear at a pretrial hearing in Mastromarino In such a growing industry, small, unaccredited outfits outnumber the accredited ones, experts said. McCafferty, 38, received significantly less time compared to his co-conspirators - brothers . The empty Sunset Mesa Funeral Directors & Donor Services in Montrose, Colo., on Oct. 24, 2018. The most expensive prices were for an upper torso that included a head and arms ($4,000) and the cost of an entire body was $5,000, according to the price list. While the mostly poor families thought their loved ones were Louis Garzone, 65, of Philadelphia, Gerald Garzone, 47, of North As part of a plea agreement, eight other criminal charges against Ms. Hess were dropped. Three funeral directors sold 244 corpses for about $1,000 each to a New York businessman who trafficked in the resale of often-diseased body parts, a grand jury charged Thursday. 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Instead of cremating the bodies, court records show, her body broker company harvested heads, spines, arms and legs and then sold them, mostly for surgical training and other educational purposes. In one such case, the donor was HIV-positive and suffered from hepatitis C and cancer. By clicking Accept All Cookies, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. funeral home allegedly removed parts from the body of the late She has been out on bond since her arrest in 2020. The looted bodies in New York include that of "Masterpiece Anyone can read what you share. Mastromarino plans to surrender Tuesday and will fight the charges, his lawyer said. Updated. They each pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud and aiding and abetting. A Colorado funeral home operator accused of illegally selling body parts and giving clients fake ashes has been sentenced to 20 years in prison By The Associated Press January 4, 2023, 12:16 AM Two Colorado funeral home operators who sold body parts or bodies in a scheme a prosecutor called "horrific" were sentenced to prison Tuesday, officials said.. Megan Hess, 46, was sentenced to 20 years in prison and her mother, Shirley Koch, 69, was sentenced to 15 years, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Colorado said in a statement. Other charges against Hess will be dropped under a plea agreement, the Sentinel said. Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much Like Gore, Rathburn would also be convicted but in federal court of fraud for selling and transporting infected body parts. The U.S. Attorney's Office for . This is a common price to purchase funeral flowers. Prior to the raid, the cost of purchasing an arm and shoulder was $600. [1/2]Megan Hess, owner of Donor Services, is pictured during an interview in Montrose, Colorado, U.S., May 23, 2016 in this still image from video. Michael Mastromarino, who operated the now-defunct Biomedical About 10,000 people received tissue supplied by BTS. Did you encounter any technical issues? Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. IE 11 is not supported. All Rights Reserved. Hess, however, charged families to donate their bodies - $195, plus $300 more if relatives want cremated . Agnes Folger believes the body of her 81-year-old husband, Joe Amon / Denver Post via Getty Images file. A stout, ruddy-faced James McCafferty Jr. - the third of the Philadelphia funeral-home operators who participated in the sickening national scam to illegally sell body parts - was sentenced yesterday to 3 1/2 to 10 years in state prison. A reporter seeking comment at their businesses was told to leave. On other occasions, their request was rejected, and sometimes, they never brought up the topic at all. Market data provided by Factset. last year but continued to run their two homes in Philadelphia, Investigators found 112 cases in which the three men charged indigent clients for services - then billed welfare as well. Chopped into pieces, thrown into luggage; one of the accomplices chose to dump the luggage in little India. fight the charges, his lawyer said. One national law firm has clients who were patients at Temple, Hahnemann, Thomas Jefferson and Albert Einstein Hospitals in Philadelphia, Holy Redeemer Hospital in Montgomery County, and Shore Memorial Hospital and AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center in New Jersey. transplant recipients suing tissue banks over the often-diseased Find 1 listings related to Mccafferty Funeral Home in Ambler on YP.com. A spokeswoman for the Justice Department and a lawyer for Ms. Koch declined to comment on the plea agreement. We hope these prison sentences will bring the victims family members some amount of peace as they move forward in the grieving process.. Former workers describe troubling practices at this mortuary. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. In any case, the documents say, on hundreds of occasions the funeral home operators would sell heads, torsos, arms, legs or entire human bodies. Two funeral home operators in Colorado were sentenced Wednesday for illegally selling bodies and body parts without the families' consent, the US Attorney's Office said. A Colorado funeral home operator accused of illegally selling body parts and giving clients fake ashes has pleaded guilty to mail fraud in federal court. then sold to the tissue banks for dental implants, knee and hip One Philadelphia woman who believes she contracted hepatitis from a tainted body part is pursuing a civil suit. Mastromarino claimed that none of the deceased died in a hospital, in order to explain why there were no medical records, according to the grand jury report. A federal grand jury indicted Hess and Koch in 2020. The empty Sunset Mesa Funeral Directors & Donor Services in Montrose, Colorado. Mastromarino is already facing charges in New York for allegedly plundering 1,077 bodies, including those from Philadelphia. The three men were paid $1,000 for each body by Biomedical Tissue Services of Fort Lee, N.J., the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office said. This is the cost to purchase a burial vault from the funeral home. We've received your submission. After the body parts were removed, the deceased were taken across the street to Liberty for cremation. The Garzone brothers surrendered their state funeral licenses last year but continued to run their two homes, Abraham said. Mastromarino, 44, remains in New York custody after his guilty FBI agents found that Hess forged dozens of body-donor consent forms. He said the state was investigating whether Louis and Gerald Garzone were still running their businesses without a license. It was not immediately known if the three funeral directors had attorneys. "One of the cutters said it was like the back of a butcher shop, it was so dirty," Abraham said. corruption, body stealing and reckless endangerment. GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (AP) A Colorado funeral home operator accused of illegally selling body parts and giving clients fake ashes was sentenced to 20 years in prison . The funeral-home directors and their partners, two men who bought the tissue for resale, then falsified paperwork to make the "donors" appear healthy, the report said. Mastromarino has pleaded not guilty to the New York charges. otherwise healthy, prosecutors said. The Associated Press. Lawyers for Ms. Hess did not immediately reply to requests for comment on Tuesday. A funeral home in Colorado has been investigated for cutting off body parts from its clients and selling them. team of "cutters" who stole the body parts, authorities said. The stolen bones . Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Thank you for visiting McCafferty Funeral & Cremation Inc. website. In 2009, Hess and her mother, Shirley Koch, launched a nonprofit donor services organization called Sunset Mesa Funeral Foundation, a body-broker service operating out of the funeral home doing business that would sell body parts to third parties mostly for surgical training and other educational purposes. Mastromarino's lead cutter, and faces a sentence of about 6 1/2 to Meeting with hospice on the 4th opening the floodgates of donors, Hess wrote to a prospective body-part buyer in 2014. The woman, Megan Hess, 45, the principal figure in the scheme, was assisted by her mother, Shirley Koch, who is in her late 60s, prosecutors said. While the mostly poor families thought their loved ones were being cremated quickly, the bodies were often left unrefrigerated for days, sometimes in alleys beside the funeral home, until a cutter arrived, authorities said. and provide for other medical needs, the 111-page indictment said. 1748 W Erie Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19140. The three Philadelphia suspects were taken into custody and it For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. During the hearing, the judge asked Hess to describe in her own words the crimes she committed. "No penalty is too harsh for these guys, for the just unbelievably craven nature of what they did," Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne Abraham said at a news conference. Those charges are pending, but seven New York funeral- home directors pleaded guilty last year to helping Mastromarino steal from bodies. From 2010 through 2018, they would meet with people seeking cremation services either for themselves or their loved ones, according to the plea agreement. Megan Hess, 46, pleaded guilty to fraud in July. Reuters provides business, financial, national and international news to professionals via desktop terminals, the world's media organizations, industry events and directly to consumers. Second plea in U.S. funeral home scheme to sell body parts. The Garzone brothers surrendered their state funeral licenses "This was not a coincidence," the grand jury said. it was so dirty," Abraham said. learned the true identities of only 48 of the 244 bodies, Abraham After Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeremy Chaffin made his sentencing recommendation, the lawyer for Hess, Dan Shaffer, urged a lighter sentence of about two years in prison. In Philadelphia, most of the bodies were scheduled for cremation Several funeral home operators in New York have also pleaded Quick view $ 114.95 . In one such case, the donor Market data provided by Factset. Hess charged families up to $1,000 for cremations that never occurred, prosecutors said, and she also offered others a free cremation in exchange for a body donation. The three funeral-home directors - Louis Garzone, 65; his brother Gerald Garzone, 47; and James A. McCafferty Jr., 37 - were accused of plundering 244 cadavers between February 2004 and September 2005. "He's going to plead not guilty, and from what I've heard, the amount that's been suggested for bail is excessive. Much of the work took place at the Louis Garzone Funeral Home, at Somerset and Jasper Streets in Kensington, where bodies were left on gurneys in a dingy alley behind the building, the grand jury said. (Reuters) -A former Colorado funeral home owner was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison on Tuesday for defrauding relatives of the dead by dissecting 560 corpses and selling body parts without permission. (Reuters) - A second Colorado woman pleaded guilty on Tuesday to defrauding relatives of the dead as part of a scheme in which a funeral . Associated Press. 1,700 counts charged, such as running a criminal enterprise and The parts - bones, skin, tendons and spines - were taken from the deceased without family permission, in unsanitary conditions that one witness likened to a "butcher shop.". Burial vault. "He was victimized by the funeral directors. "One of the cutters said it was like the back of a butcher shop, it was so dirty," Abraham said. A judge sentenced a Colorado funeral-home owner who carved up corpses and sold parts of them without families' permission to 20 years in prison on Tuesday, according to the Department of Justice. To increase sales, Hess targeted poor and vulnerable families as they grappled with a relative's final days, according to government court filings. company that shipped bones, skin and tendons to tissue processors. The founder of that company, Michael Mastromarino, a dentist stripped of his license for drug offenses, and his partner, Lee Cruceta, also were charged yesterday. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Megan Hess, operator of Donor Services, in Montrose, Colo., pleaded guilty to mail fraud on Tuesday. California residents do not sell my data request. part is pursuing a civil suit, Abraham said. In one such case, the donor was HIV-positive and suffered from hepatitis C and cancer. beauty. Dozens of patients, including some from Philadelphia and New Jersey, said they contracted hepatitis C after getting a transplant. The black-market sales went on from at least February 2004 through September 2005, prosecutors said. All he was supposed to do was come and harvest the tissue and send the samples down to the processors," defense lawyer Mario Gallucci said Thursday. One of the "cutters" who removed body parts told the grand jury that he once saw a body in the alley, covered with a blue "Astroturf-like material," a sparrow perched on the head. patients worldwide. "My job is to make sure he doesn't do additional time just The company sold the body parts to treat burns, replace broken bones and provide for other medical needs, the indictment said. A subscription helps you access more of the local stories that keep you connected to the community. being cremated quickly, the bodies were often left unrefrigerated Still, the authorities said, families typically paid $1,000 or more for a cremation that often never occurred. Even when families agreed to donation, the news release said, Hess and Koch sometimes sold the remains beyond what the family had authorized. A second Garzone Funeral Home , at 4151 L St., also is charged. Tweet. what was going on," lawyer George Vomvolakis said. The Garzone brothers each own a funeral home and McCafferty was the director at a funeral home owned by his mother, the report said. made millions on the scheme, prosecutors say. PHILADELPHIA Three funeral directors sold hundreds of bodies to a former oral surgeon who allegedly collected the bones, tissue and skin from the corpses to be used in transplants, a grand jury charged Thursday after a 16-month investigation. In many instances, Koch and Hess neither discussed nor obtained authorization for donation of decedents bodies or body parts for body broker services, the news release said. who lost his oral surgery license amid unrelated drug charges, and Megan Hess, who pleaded guilty to mail fraud, sold body parts without families consent in a business she operated with her mother, officials said. We are available 24 hours a day, everyday of the year for emergency death care. The district attorney also charged McCafferty and Louis and Gerald Garzone with defrauding a state welfare program that offers help to the poor for burial expenses. July 5, 2022. Megan Hess, 45, admitted to a single count of mail fraud and aiding and abetting, the Department of Justice announced in a press release on Tuesday. Wales, and James McCafferty, 37, of Philadelphia, have pleaded not The grand jury said five Philadelphia and 41 Pennsylvania hospitals implanted parts that originated with Mastromarino's operation. "They were motivated by greed.". "He This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, Hess had been scheduled to go on trial in three weeks along with her mother, Shirley Koch, who also previously pleaded not guilty. $950?". She also offered free cremations in exchange for a body donation. of Philadelphia, and Gerald Garzone, 47, of North Wales, along with James McCafferty, 37, of Philadelphia, provided the bodies to Michael Mastromarino and . Most brokers who sell body parts offer to cremate part of the donor's body for free. Mechafanboy said: There's a case in little India a few years back. The transfers were done through Sunset Mesa Funeral Foundation and Donor Services, authorities said. See reviews, photos, directions, phone numbers and more for Mccafferty Funeral Home locations in Ambler, PA. . Flowers. The Daily Sentinel reportsthat Megan Hess faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison after entering the plea Tuesday in Grand Junction. alleged underlings, three funeral home operators from North The defendants typically made up names for the donors and also forged family consent forms, the indictment said. Mastromarino to plead guilty to just a few of the approximately A human head and spine sold for $850, while a full pelvis all the way to the toes priced out at $2,850. Explore life stories, offer tributes & condolences, send flowers or create a lasting online memorial for loved ones. Some even had rigor mortis, the grand jury said. In court documents, a former employee accused Hess of earning $40,000 by extracting and selling the gold teeth of some of the deceased, an allegation first revealed in the 2018 Reuters report. plundering 1,077 bodies, including those from Philadelphia. Hess had created a nonprofit organization in 2009 called Sunset Mesa Funeral Foundation as a body-broker service doing business as Donor Services, authorities said. This story has been shared 102,319 times. of death to make it appear the body parts were more fresh, FOR TRANSFERRING BODY ONLY. Parts are supposed to be harvested within 15 hours of death, but some of those in Philadelphia sat unrefrigerated for up to 100 hours. Christian's grandfather was one of the victims at Sunset Mesa Funeral Home. A former Colorado funeral home owner was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison on Tuesday for defrauding relatives of the dead by dissecting 560 corpses and selling body parts without permission . "I love Louis.". Hess initially called the whole affair a "legal travesty." The group also lowered the donors' ages and changed their dates unbelievably craven nature of what they did," Philadelphia District The other location is at L and Lycoming Streets in Juniata Park. Lee Cruceta, 35, of Monroe, N.Y., has admitted to being In 2022 Ken Matthews was ranked #70 of the 100 most important Talk Radio Show Hosts in America by the radio industry's TALKERS magazine. Hess has been free on bond since her arrest. Families of the dead had no idea the bodies were being ransacked. Donate your eggs to earn up to $10,000! Funeral directors Louis Garzone, 65, of Philadelphia, Gerald Garzone, 47, of North Wales, and James McCafferty, 37, of Philadelphia, were arrested Thursday on thousands of counts, ranging from running a corrupt organization to forgery and theft of body parts. certificates to make the parts appear usable, the grand jury McCafferty, 37, of Philadelphia; were arrested Thursday on This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Megan Hess and her mother Shirley Koch defrauded over 200 families by handing over random ashes while selling body parts of deceased individuals entrusted to their funeral home. Megan Hess admitted to selling body parts without permission of the families of the deceased. On his way to dispose the luggage, a amdk Samaritan saw the man struggling with the luggage and offered to help. He has agreed to help locate records for the families and The department's position that Trump is not immune from suit was laid out in a filing before a federal appeals court. After the Reuters 2018 investigation, Colorado's legislature strengthened the state's oversight. Seven funeral directors in New York have pleaded guilty, including one whose funeral home allegedly removed parts from the body of the late "Masterpiece Theatre" host Alistair Cooke. You have permission to edit this article. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. Add to cart More. Sell your breast milk for $1-$3 per ounce. July 5 (Reuters) - A former Colorado funeral home owner pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a federal charge of defrauding relatives of the dead by dissecting their family members' corpses and selling the body parts without permission, a practice exposed in a 2018 Reuters investigative report. Indicted on similar counts were Brooklyn residents Mastromarino, The defendants conduct was horrific and morbid and driven by greed, US Attorney Cole Finegan said. From 2017-2021 Matthews was a guest host for RUSH Limbaugh and had the honor of hosting the last show on Rush's EIB Network-including the final Open Line Friday. The company sold the parts to treat burns, replace broken bones and provide for other medical needs, the 111-page indictment said. The funeral Donate your sperm to earn up to $1,500/mo! Seven Browse an unrivalled portfolio of real-time and historical market data and insights from worldwide sources and experts. "No penalty is too harsh for these guys, for the just They told the judge that while they were still emotionally reeling from the episode and wanted to learn more details about what occurred, they welcomed the news that Hess had decided to plead guilty. The lucrative parts were A former employee accused her of earning$40,000 by extracting and selling the gold teeth of some of the deceased as part of the macabre scheme, according to court documents. Two morticians operating . But prosecutors here are balking at any 2-for-1 deal. "They have four or five deaths a day. The group also lowered the donors' ages and changed their dates of death to make it appear the body parts were more fresh, authorities said. "Both Louis and Gerald continue to run their businesses, pretty much as they did before," the report said. The stolen bones, skin and tissue which are nearly impossible to trace from donor to recipient because of forged documents were transplanted in unsuspecting medical patients worldwide, the grand jury in Philadelphia found. Prosecution seeks 12-15 year prison sentence, Colorado funeral home harvested and sold body parts. authorities said. guilty and, along with Mastromarino, are set for trial on Sept. 2. Parts & Accessories; Church Trucks. They want Michael Mastromarino to serve an additional 20 to 40 Mastromarino often filled in phony information on death So far, authorities have Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Experts estimate that a single body can be worth $100,000 in parts, and the industry as a whole has topped $1 billion in revenue per year. Hess is tentatively set to be sentenced in January. Two family members and one friend of deceased people whose body parts were sold without permission by Hess spoke at the hearing. Few state laws provide any regulation, and almost anyone, regardless of expertise, can dissect and sell human body parts. Generally, a broker can sell a donated human body for about $3,000 to $5,000, though prices sometime . Expand. James E Fyfe Funeral Director. vowed to push for concurrent sentences. REUTERS/Mike Wood/File Photo. A former Colorado funeral home operator has pleaded guilty to stealing and then selling hundreds of human bodies or body parts to people who were buying the remains for scientific, medical or . The Reuters series uncovered the actions of Sunset Mesa and Donor Services. Sell your poop for up to $1,500 per month. Thanks for contacting us. $1,700. ", The statement added that "These shipments would be through the mail or on commercial air flights in violation of Department of Transportation regulations regarding the transportation of hazardous materials.". The operator of a Colorado funeral home who was accused of stealing body parts and selling them to medical and scientific buyers, making hundreds of thousands of dollars in what the authorities called an illegal body part scheme, pleaded guilty to mail fraud on Tuesday, the Justice Department said. Folger, who brought a small U.S. flag to the court hearing. Hundreds of patient lawsuits have been filed in federal court in New Jersey and state courts around the country. Published Dec 19, 2008. A change of plea hearing for Koch is scheduled for July 12. The elaborate scheme also included forged paperwork and "misleading buyers about the results of medical tests" performed on the bodies, added the Times, citing court documents. The women ran Sunset Mesa Funeral Home in Montrose, Colorado. A change of plea hearing for Koch, who initially pleaded not guilty, is scheduled for July 12 added the outlet. According to authorities, they made hundreds of thousands of dollars selling off bodies .