1,700 counts charged, such as running a criminal enterprise and The lucrative parts were 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 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. Mastromarino has been fighting the New York charges. Mastromarino has pleaded not guilty to the New York charges. All Rights Reserved. The grand jury said five Philadelphia and 41 Pennsylvania hospitals implanted parts that originated with Mastromarino's operation. Megan Hess, 46, was sentenced Tuesday at a hearing in Grand Junction, Colorado for dissecting 560 . "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. Funeral Home Operator Pleads Guilty in Illegal Body Part Scheme, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/05/us/colorado-funeral-home-owner-body-parts-guilty.html. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. 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. According to authorities, they made hundreds of thousands of dollars selling off bodies . Mastromarino is already facing charges in New York for allegedly Mastromarino - and the sensational accusations against him - first drew national headlines last year when he and three employees were charged in Brooklyn, N.Y., in a 122-count indictment. Two funeral home operators in Colorado were sentenced Wednesday for illegally selling bodies and body parts without the families consent, the US Attorneys Office said. Morgan Cemetery A former Colorado funeral home operator pleaded guilty this week to stealing and selling human remains and body parts that were intended for cremation, federal prosecutors said. The company sold the body parts to treat burns, replace broken bones and provide for other medical needs, the indictment said. But (Garzone) took my Authorities said Mastromarino's company took bones and tissue from 1,077 bodies at funeral homes in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, making $3.8 million in illegal profits. To increase sales, Hess targeted poor and vulnerable families as they grappled with a relative's final days, according to government court filings. Hess then "sold those remains to victims purchasing the remains for scientific, medical, or educational purposes," the release added. 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. MONTROSE, Colo. When funeral directors Megan Hess and Shirley Koch were sentenced after admitting to illegally selling body parts from the Sunset Mesa . The shipments went through the mail or on commercial air flights in violation of Department of Transportation regulations regarding the transportation of hazardous materials,the news release said. Former workers told Reuters about questionable practices at the facility, including the dismembering of bodies without the knowledge or consent of families. 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. certificates to make the parts appear usable, the grand jury her fear. Quick view $ 114.95 . 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 . 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. Those charges are pending, but seven New York funeral- home directors pleaded guilty last year to helping Mastromarino steal from bodies. About a month after the Reuters stories, the FBI raided the site and state regulators shuttered the funeral home and crematory. The Reuters series uncovered the actions of Sunset Mesa and Donor Services. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. She could face up to 20 years in prison. 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. the families' knowledge or permission. "My job is to make sure he doesn't do additional time just husband's body parts.". 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. or redistributed. because there are bodies in Pennsylvania," Peruto said. "Despite receiving $1,959 per child from Stevie Wonder, Louis Garzone filed a welfare claim for $750 for each," the grand jury said. Louis Garzone, 65, of Philadelphia, Gerald Garzone, 47, of North The U.S. Attorney's Office for . Hundreds of patient lawsuits have been filed in federal court in New Jersey and state courts around the country. The United States Attorney's Office for the District of Colorado said in a release Tuesday, that Meghan Hess, 45, of Montrose, Colorado had pleaded guilty to running a complex fraud "devised and executed to steal the bodies or body parts of hundreds of victims," from 2010 to 2018. In one such case, the donor was HIV-positive and suffered from hepatitis C and cancer. According to The New York Times, Hess now faces up to 20 years in jail for her body part scheme, which was run out of the Sunset Mesa Funeral Directors in Montrose. A change of plea hearing for Koch, who initially pleaded not guilty, is scheduled for July 12 added the outlet. The empty Sunset Mesa Funeral Directors & Donor Services in Montrose, Colorado. The Garzone brothers surrendered their state funeral licenses Mastromarino plans to surrender Tuesday in Philadelphia and will fight the charges, his lawyer said. Two family members and one friend of deceased people whose body parts were sold without permission by Hess spoke at the hearing. The funeral directors were in charge of getting consent. G. Frank Page, Jr. Funeral Home. The parts could have been transplanted into as many as 13,000 patients, the Food and Drug Administration estimated. Philadelphia, Peruto said. Mastromarino plans to surrender Tuesday and will fight the charges, his lawyer said. Mansion, Jen Shah's Assistant Stuart Smith Changes Plea to Guilty in Telemarketing Scheme Case, American Dentist Accused of Plotting Wife's Murder During Africa Hunting Trip. 2023 Cable News Network. Tweet. charged Thursday after a 16-month investigation. unbelievably craven nature of what they did," Philadelphia District He did not appear at a pretrial hearing in said. More than 200 Pennsylvanians got tissue that came directly from the Garzone funeral homes, according to the grand jury report. According to a report from the DOJ at the time of the arrests, Hess and Koch's mail scheme included shipping "bodies and body parts that tested positive for, or belonging to people who had died from, infectious diseases, including Hepatitis B and C, and HIV, after certifying to buyers that the remains were disease-free. Agnes Folger believes the body of her 81-year-old husband, Meeting with hospice on the 4th opening the floodgates of donors, Hess wrote to a prospective body-part buyer in 2014. "He From 2010 through 2018, they would meet with people seeking cremation services either for themselves or their loved ones, according to the plea agreement. Louis Garzone's attorney, Howard Kaufman, said he had not seen the grand jury report and so could not comment on the charges. The group also lowered the donors' ages and changed their dates See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. 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. guilty and, along with Mastromarino, are set for trial on Sept. 2. By John Shiffman. As part of his funeral directors there have pleaded guilty, including one whose "He's going to plead not guilty, and from what I've heard, the amount that's been suggested for bail is excessive. 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. Indicted on similar counts were Brooklyn residents Mastromarino, who lost his oral surgery license amid unrelated drug charges, and Lee Cruceta, a former nurse who allegedly ran the cutting crew. 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 . The stolen bones . The three Philadelphia suspects were taken into custody and it was not immediately clear if they had attorneys. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, A spokeswoman for the Justice Department and a lawyer for Ms. Koch declined to comment on the plea agreement. Michael Mastromarino, who operated the now-defunct Biomedical Build the strongest argument relying on authoritative content, attorney-editor expertise, and industry defining technology. Philadelphia on Friday, but defense lawyer Charles A. Peruto Jr. together ran Garzone Funeral Home. Megan Hess, who pleaded guilty to mail fraud, sold body parts without families consent in a business she operated with her mother, officials said. Subscribe to stay connected to Tucson. Funeral directors Louis Garzone, 65, of Philadelphia; his younger brother, Gerald Garzone, 47, of North Wales; and James McCafferty, 37, of Philadelphia; were arrested Thursday on thousands of . Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much Mechafanboy said: There's a case in little India a few years back. plea with New York prosecutors, he agreed to forfeit $4.68 million. It was not immediately known if the three funeral directors had attorneys. to a former oral surgeon who allegedly collected the bones, tissue In some cases, the pair would ship bodies and body parts that tested positive for or belonged to people who had died from infectious diseases such as Hepatitis B and C and HIV after certifying to buyers that the remains were disease-free, the news release said. parts, Peruto said. The three men also jointly own Liberty Cremation. Respond: Write a letter to the editor | Write a guest opinion. How about a deal on full embalmed spines $950?. 20 years for crimes in both states. Dozens of patients, including some from Philadelphia and New Jersey, said they contracted hepatitis C after getting a transplant. 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. The Associated Press. Prosecutors Ms. Hess and her mother sometimes obtained consent from families to donate small tissue samples or tumors of their dead relative, according to an indictment in the case. vowed to push for concurrent sentences. 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. (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. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. 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. $1,700. Buy this on Ever Loved. On his way to dispose the luggage, a amdk Samaritan saw the man struggling with the luggage and offered to help. A further eight criminal charges against her were dropped as a part of a plea deal, the newspaper added Tuesday. 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 Tuesday by a federal court . Prior to the raid, the cost of purchasing an arm and shoulder was $600. "We, by law, had to grant [James Garzone] his license," said Basil Merenda, commissioner of the state Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs. Funeral directors Louis Garzone, 65, of Philadelphia; his "Both Louis and Gerald continue to run their businesses, pretty much as they did before," the report said. The industry leader for online information for tax, accounting and finance professionals. Add to Compare. 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. part is pursuing a civil suit, Abraham said. then sold to the tissue banks for dental implants, knee and hip A funeral home in Colorado has been investigated for cutting off body parts from its clients and selling them. younger brother, Gerald Garzone, 47, of North Wales; and James Burial vault. But instead of offering guidance, these greedy women betrayed the trust of hundreds of victims and mutilated their loved ones, Leonard Carollo, the acting special agent in charge at the FBI in Denver, said in a news release. Gallagher scheduled Hess, who had previously pleaded not guilty, to be sentenced in January, with the prosecution calling for 12 to 15 years in prison. (Reuters) - A second Colorado woman pleaded guilty on Tuesday to defrauding relatives of the dead as part of a scheme in which a funeral . 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. Michael Mastromarino, a businessman and former dentist, ran the scheme with help from a team of "cutters" who stole the body parts, authorities said. Church Truck Drapes; Funeral Supplies . of death to make it appear the body parts were more fresh, A lawyer for 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. was HIV-positive and suffered from hepatitis C and cancer. The 244 bodies fetched about $1,000 each, the grand jury found, with the body parts being transplanted in unsuspecting medical patients worldwide. A grand jury indictment said that from 2010 through 2018, Hess and Koch offered to cremate bodies and provide the remains to families at a cost of $1,000 or more, but many of the cremations never occurred. 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Families of the dead had no idea the bodies were being ransacked. The looted bodies in New York include that of "Masterpiece The defendants conduct was horrific and morbid and driven by greed, US Attorney Cole Finegan said. FOR TRANSFERRING BODY ONLY. for days, sometimes in alleys beside the funeral home, until a made millions on the scheme, prosecutors say. The two women also delivered cremated remains to families that did not belong to the families loved ones, the news release said. In any case, the documents say, on hundreds of occasions the funeral home operators would sell heads, torsos, arms, legs or entire human bodies. If you wish to speak to Mark McCafferty right away please call 215-531-5014 or 215-432-8339 (cell) or 267-978-8869 (cell). 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. A Colorado funeral home operator accused of illegally selling body parts and giving clients fake ashes was sentenced to 20 years in prison Tuesday by a federal court judge. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. So far, authorities have learned the true identities of only 48 of the 244 bodies, Abraham said. This is the cost to purchase a burial vault from the funeral home. Of the 244 bodies here, he changed the names on all but 48. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. Megan Hess, who operated a funeral home called Sunset Mesa and a human body parts business called Donor Services from the same building, entered the plea to the charge of fraud at a hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Gordon Gallagher in Grand Junction, Colorado. July 8, 2022 - The owner of a Colorado funeral home has pleaded guilty to federal charges of mail fraud after the FBI uncovered an operation to sell body parts of deceased . Tissue Services of Fort Lee, N.J., ran the scheme with help from a Market data provided by Factset. (Reuters) - A second Colorado woman pleaded guilty on Tuesday to defrauding relatives of the dead as part of a scheme in which a funeral home sold body parts without permission . 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. Former workers describe troubling practices at this mortuary. woman who believes she contracted hepatitis from a tainted body Keep reading with a digital access subscription. Did you encounter any technical issues? Thanks for contacting us. CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. All rights reserved. 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. do was come and harvest the tissue and send the samples down to the Seven A Colorado woman who operated a funeral home pleaded guilty to fraud this week after being accused of stealing and selling bodies and body parts, officials said. 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. Much of the tissue was taken from people who were unsuitable donors because their age or the condition of their bodies, or because they had infections such as hepatitis or HIV, according to a 103-page grand jury report. Megan Hess was sentenced to 20 years in prison and her mother, Shirley Koch, received 15 years for their involvement in the scheme to sell the human remains to body broker services, according to federal prosecutors. The body-part industry has been booming, growing from 200,000 transplants in 1989 to 1,200,000 in 2003. "This was not a coincidence," the grand jury said. A federal grand jury indicted Hess and Koch in 2020. Prosecutors recommended a sentence for Hess of 12 to 15 years. team of "cutters" who stole the body parts, authorities said. Lee Cruceta, a former nurse who allegedly ran the cutting crew. "One of the cutters said it was like the back of a butcher shop, it was so dirty," Abraham said. The grand jury also charged Mastromarino and Lee Cruceta, a former nurse who allegedly ran the cutting crew, with similar counts. That term was cut short Sunday morning when Mastromarino, 49, died at a New York hospital. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. corruption, body stealing and reckless endangerment. The empty Sunset Mesa Funeral Directors & Donor Services in Montrose, Colo., on Oct. 24, 2018. "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. 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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. The Garzone brothers each own a funeral home and McCafferty was the director at a funeral home owned by his mother, the report said. Cruceta, who lives in Monroe, N.Y., said he believes his client is corpse to let Mastromarino's "cutters" hack up bodies, without She has been out on bond since her arrest in 2020. Bronson to resolve. 1748 W Erie Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19140. In fact, the grand jury said, the lack of oversight helped Mastromarino go undetected for years, and it recommended a raft of changes that state and federal overseers should make. 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.
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