DENVER — The Department of Justice is considering offering the owners of the Return to Nature funeral home a plea deal, according to an email sent to victims' families Wednesday.
Jon and Carie Hallford face 15 federal charges, including the following:
- federal wire fraud
- aiding and abetting
- conspiracy to commit wire fraud
They are accused of improperly storing nearly 200 bodies at a funeral home in Penrose. Investigators say the bodies were left to rot inside the facility and were found stacked on top of each other.
The email did not detail what the possible plea deal would offer the former funeral home owners. State prosecutors offered the couple a plea deal in July.
The Hallfords are each facing more than 250 state counts, including the following:
- abuse of a corpse
- money laundering
- theft
- forgery
They've pleaded not guilty to the federal charges and are expected to enter a plea on state charges. A decision on that is expected next month.
KOAA News5 has a full timeline of the developing events of the Return to Nature Funeral Home.
___
Victims Identified in 30-Car Pileup Caused by a 'Brownout'
The Pueblo County Coroner has identified the four people killed in yesterday's massive pileup on I-25. This report has the latest on the investigation, which points to high winds and a sudden "brownout" as the cause of the tragic chain-reaction crash.
____
Watch KOAA News5 on your time, anytime with our free streaming app available for your Roku, FireTV, AppleTV and Android TV. Just search KOAA News5, download and start watching.