A funeral home owner who stored nearly 190 deceased individuals in a dilapidated building and provided fake ashes to mourning families was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Friday. He was found guilty of defrauding clients and unlawfully pocketing almost $900,000 from federal COVID-19 relief funds.
Jon Hallford, the boss of Return to Nature Funeral Home Colorado admitted his involvement in a wire fraud conspiracy at a federal court last year. In a separate case, he also pleaded guilty to 191 counts involving mishandling of corpses in state court , with his sentencing set for August.
In the Friday court session, while prosecutors pushed for a 15-year stretch, Hallford's defenders argued for only 10 years. Judge Nina Wang decided that, despite the case focusing on a single fraud charge, the enormity of Hallford's actions and the devastating emotional havoc wreaked on numerous families warranted an extended time behind bars.
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Before receiving his sentence, Hallford expressed his regret in court, telling the judge that his funeral business was set up to make a positive impact on lives, but everything went wrong, including his own behavior.
"I am so deeply sorry for my actions," he admitted. "I still hate myself for what I've done."
Hallford and his wife, Carie Hallford, were indicted for hiding bodies from 2019 to 2023 and deceiving families with fake ashes. The gruesome scene was uncovered in 2023 when authorities discovered remains accumulated in an insect-infested building in Penrose, about two hours south of Denver.
The macabre finding upended the trust of many who believed their loved ones had been respectfully cremated, only to learn that the ashes they received were fakes. Court documents reported cases where the wrong bodies were buried.
This appalling discovery has disrupted the grieving process for numerous families, causing nightmares, overwhelming guilt, and deep-seated worries about the fates of their loved ones' souls.
At a Friday hearing, a youngster named Colton Sperry stepped up to the stand, his small stature barely above the lectern. Through tears, he spoke about his grandmother, who passed away in 2019 and was like a second mom to him.
For four years, her body was improperly handled at the Return to Nature facility until its discovery, which drove Sperry into depression. He shared a harrowing point of grief with his parents, saying, "If I die too, I could meet my grandma in heaven and talk to her again."
As a result of this episode, he was hospitalized for mental health care, which led to therapy and the aid of an emotional support dog.
His speech concluded with tears as he expressed, "I miss my grandma so much," his voice heavy with emotion while speaking to the judge.
Federal prosecutors have accused the Hallfords of scamming pandemic relief funds, channeling money and customer payments into excessive purchases including a GMC Yukon and an Infiniti worth over $120,000, plus $31,000 in cryptocurrency, high-end items from Gucci and Tiffany & Co., and extravagant laser body sculpting treatments.
Derrick Johnson traveled 3,000 miles to inform the court that his mother was "thrown into a festering sea of death."
Struggling with insomnia, Johnson reveals, "I lie awake wondering, was she naked? Was she stacked on top of others like lumber?".
Johnson bitterly remarked, "While the bodies rotted in secret, (the Hallfords) lived, they laughed and they dined," grieving that "My mom's cremation money likely helped pay for a cocktail, a day at the spa, a first-class flight."
Laura H. Suelau, attorney for Jon Hallford, suggested a mere ten years of imprisonment at Friday's hearing, arguing her client "knows he was wrong, he admitted he was wrong" without any excuses; his sentencing for state charges is set for August.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim Neff advocated for a severe 15-year sentence for Hallford, describing the dire conditions of the facility—rooms blocked by stacks of decomposing bodies, FBI agents constructing walkways above fluids that were later removed.
Carie Hallford is scheduled to stand trial in the federal case this September, which coincides with her next hearing in the state case where she's also facing 191 counts of corpse abuse.
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