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. 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. One of the cadavers was that of Alistair Cooke, the host of Masterpiece Theater, who died in 2004 of cancer. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. The hoax revelation was first carried by the Ma Reuters provides business, financial, national and international news to professionals via desktop terminals, the world's media organizations, industry events and directly to consumers. 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. was HIV-positive and suffered from hepatitis C and cancer. 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. Michael Mastromarino, who operated the now-defunct Biomedical Tissue Services of Fort Lee, N.J., ran the scheme with help from a team of "cutters" who stole the body parts, authorities said. do was come and harvest the tissue and send the samples down to the The empty Sunset Mesa Funeral Directors & Donor Services in Montrose, Colo., on Oct. 24, 2018. In any case, the documents say, on hundreds of occasions the funeral home operators would sell heads, torsos, arms, legs or entire human bodies. parts, Peruto said. Although taking care of these funerals is a tremendous honor, the owner of McCafferty Funeral Home's real passion is to help all people from different backgrounds get . 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. "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. "It seems like this in this case . To increase sales, Hess targeted poor and vulnerable families as they grappled with a relative's final days, according to government court filings. Mastromarino's lead cutter, and faces a sentence of about 6 1/2 to 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. Mastromarino is already facing charges in New York for allegedly 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. Some even had rigor mortis, the grand jury said. cutter arrived, authorities said. Lee Cruceta, 35, of Monroe, N.Y., has admitted to being Hess and her mother, Shirley Koch, 66, were first arrested for "illegally selling body parts or entire bodies without the consent of the family of the deceased," by the U.S. Department of Justice in March 2020. He said the state was investigating whether Louis and Gerald Garzone were still running their businesses without a license. The department's position that Trump is not immune from suit was laid out in a filing before a federal appeals court. with the body parts being transplanted in unsuspecting medical The family of actor Tom Sizemore is currently "deciding end of life matters" following an update from doctors, according to a statement receiv. Mastromarino plans to surrender Tuesday and will fight the charges, his lawyer said. This is the only funeral home my family has ever used. Families of the dead had no idea the bodies were being ransacked. Frequently, they delivered cremated remains to families with the suggestion they were the remains of their relative when, in fact, they were not, according to the indictment. The three Philadelphia suspects were taken into custody and it was not immediately clear if they had attorneys. 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. So far, authorities have learned the true identities of only 48 of the 244 bodies, Abraham said. Her defense attorney has requested a lighter sentence of two years. MONTROSE, Colo. When funeral directors Megan Hess and Shirley Koch were sentenced after admitting to illegally selling body parts from the Sunset Mesa . Mastromarino has pleaded not guilty to the New York charges. Meeting with hospice on the 4th opening the floodgates of donors, Hess wrote to a prospective body-part buyer in 2014. In one such case, the donor We've received your submission. The funeral directors forged death certificates that said the donors had died of heart attacks or blunt-force trauma but were otherwise healthy, prosecutors said. Megan Hess, operator of Donor Services, in Montrose, Colo., pleaded guilty to mail fraud on Tuesday. A Colorado funeral home director accused of stealing and selling the body parts of hundreds of people has pleaded guilty to mail fraud. Access unmatched financial data, news and content in a highly-customised workflow experience on desktop, web and mobile. Mastromarino will also testify, if necessary, against his 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. Hess is tentatively set to be sentenced in January. In other instances, the topic of donation was raised by Hess or Koch, and specifically rejected by the families. To maximize profits, Hess targeted poor and vulnerable families, struggling as they made arrangements in their relatives final days, according to court documents. They want Michael Mastromarino to serve an additional 20 to 40 years in Philadelphia . Published Dec 19, 2008. 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. During the hearing, the judge asked Hess to describe in her own words the crimes she committed. The funeral directors forged death certificates that said the Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Both Hess and Koch originally had pleaded not guilty to the charges. 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. Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much 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. All Rights Reserved. and skin from the corpses to be used in transplants, a grand jury GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. 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. Joe Amon / Denver Post via Getty Images file. 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. "He's going to plead not guilty, and from what I've heard, the amount that's been suggested for bail is excessive. 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 . 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 company sold the parts to treat burns, replace broken bones 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 cannot be certain of her claim because of the lack of records or a PHILADELPHIA Three funeral directors sold hundreds of bodies Prosecutors are calling for Hess, who had previously pleaded not guilty, to be sentenced to 12 to 15 years in prison. Mastromarino often filled in phony information on death The Garzone brothers surrendered their state funeral licenses last year but continued to run their two homes, Abraham said. 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 . [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. Legal Statement. her fear. FBI agents found that Hess forged dozens of body-donor consent forms. the families' knowledge or permission. family consent forms, the indictment said. Flowers. 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Auto Body Shops Auto Glass Repair Auto Parts Auto Repair Car Detailing Oil Change Roadside Assistance Tire Shops Towing Window Tinting. Then amdk realised the luggage is overflowing with blood. In a cruel twist, the mother-and-daughter team also repeatedly lied to grieving families about the status of their loved one's bodies or flat out ignored their wishes, said the DOJ. Sell your hair to earn up to $4,000! Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Burial vault. "We, by law, had to grant [James Garzone] his license," said Basil Merenda, commissioner of the state Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs. Instead of cremating the bodies, she harvested heads, spines, arms and legs and then sold them, according to court records. together ran Garzone Funeral Home. Mastromarino has been fighting the New York charges. He and Assistant District Attorney Bruce Sagel expect As part of a plea agreement, eight other criminal charges against Ms. Hess were dropped. 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. Bronson to resolve. younger brother, Gerald Garzone, 47, of North Wales; and James Add to Compare. The 244 bodies fetched about $1,000 each, the grand jury found, with the body parts being transplanted in unsuspecting medical patients worldwide. CNNs Julie In and Hannah Rabinowitz contributed to this report. of death to make it appear the body parts were more fresh, This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, Folger, who brought a small U.S. flag to the court hearing. The funeral directors were in charge of getting consent. DENVER - The United States Attorney's Office for the District of Colorado announced today that the operators of Sunset Mesa Funeral Home in Montrose, Colorado, were sentenced to federal prison for illegally selling body parts or entire bodies without the consent of the family of the deceased. charged. "They have four or five deaths a day. 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 . According to NBC, Hess is scheduled to be sentenced in January. 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. About 10,000 people received tissue supplied by BTS. Mar 19, 2020 at 8:17 pm. A Colorado funeral home operator was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for cutting up the bodies of 560 people and selling the parts without permission. plea with New York prosecutors, he agreed to forfeit $4.68 million. 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. 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 . We are available 24 hours a day, everyday of the year for emergency death care. McCafferty, 38, received significantly less time compared to his co-conspirators - brothers . 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. This is a common price to purchase funeral flowers. Find 1 listings related to Mccafferty Funeral Home in Ambler on YP.com. 7047 Germantown Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19119. "My job is to make sure he doesn't do additional time just 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 . funeral directors there have pleaded guilty, including one whose of Philadelphia, and Gerald Garzone, 47, of North Wales, along with James McCafferty, 37, of Philadelphia, provided the bodies to Michael Mastromarino and . Lee Cruceta, a former nurse who allegedly ran the cutting crew. They want Michael Mastromarino to serve an additional 20 to 40 The three men also jointly own Liberty Cremation. Anyone can read what you share. Obituaries from the McCafferty-Sweeney Funeral Home, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. then sold to the tissue banks for dental implants, knee and hip Without knowledge or consent, the women disrespected the wishes of the grieving victims and degraded the bodies of their family members to sell them for profit, Carollo said. "Hess and Koch also delivered remains to families with the representation that the remains were that of the deceased when, frequently, that was not the case," it added. 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 . CNN has reached out to an attorney for Hess for comment. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. 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