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In New York City, four men have been indicted for stealing body parts from a Brooklyn funeral home and selling them for transplant. PHILADELPHIA Three funeral directors sold hundreds of bodies The two men were expected to surrender to Philadelphia authorities this week. He and Assistant District Attorney Bruce Sagel expect A burial vault is required for most cemeteries, but you may choose to purchase one online or elsewhere, if you'd wish. Friday, April 4, 2008. When asked to describe the crime in a United States District Court in Grand Junction, Tuesday, Hess said, "I exceeded the scope of the consent and I'm trying to make an effort to make it right," reported The Daily Sentinel. To maximize profits, Hess targeted poor and vulnerable families, struggling as they made arrangements in their relatives final days, according to court documents. 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. 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. As with other commodities, prices for bodies and body parts fluctuate with market conditions. learned the true identities of only 48 of the 244 bodies, Abraham Add to Wishlist . Mastromarino often filled in phony information on death Copyright 2023 WPVI-TV. James E Fyfe Funeral Director. 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. The cause was bone and brain cancer, said his attorney, Mario Gallucci. The Garzone brothers each own a funeral home and McCafferty was the director at a funeral home owned by his mother, the report said. Investigators found 112 cases in which the three men charged indigent clients for services - then billed welfare as well. McCafferty, 37, of Philadelphia; were arrested Thursday on But (Garzone) took my Some even had rigor mortis, the grand jury said. alleged underlings, three funeral home operators from North Megan Hess, who pleaded guilty to mail fraud, sold body parts without families consent in a business she operated with her mother, officials said. 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. Louis Garzone's attorney, Howard Kaufman, said he had not seen the grand jury report and so could not comment on the charges. Mechafanboy said: There's a case in little India a few years back. Colorado Funeral Home Director Sentenced to 20 Years in Jail for Illegally Selling Body Parts. In such a growing industry, small, unaccredited outfits outnumber the accredited ones, experts said. CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. "Meeting with hospice on the 4th opening the floodgates of donors," Hess wrote to a prospective body-part buyer in 2014. These two women preyed on vulnerable victims who turned to them in a time of grief and sadness. 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. While it is illegal to sell organs such as hearts, kidneys and tendons for transplant in the United States,the sale of cadavers and body parts for use in research or education is not regulated by federal law. All rights reserved. "I've yet to be shown a single shred of evidence that he knew what was going on," lawyer George Vomvolakis said. September 2005, prosecutors said. ", Some of the parts taken in Philadelphia came from people who had died of cancer, sepsis, HIV and hepatitis, the grand jury said. All he was supposed to Mastromarino She also offered free cremations in exchange for a body donation. About a month after the Reuters stories, the FBI raided the site and state regulators shuttered the funeral home and crematory. Philadelphia, Peruto said. team of "cutters" who stole the body parts, authorities said. Hess and Koch also shipped bodies and body parts that tested positive for, or belonged to people who died from, infectious diseases including Hepatitis B and C, and HIV, despite certifying to buyers that the remains were disease-free, authorities said. In other instances, the topic of donation was raised by Hess or Koch, and specifically rejected by the families. Updated: 7:04 PM MST January 5, 2023. In one such case, the donor was HIV-positive and suffered from hepatitis C and cancer. plundering 1,077 bodies, including those from Philadelphia. After the body parts were removed, the deceased were taken across the street to Liberty for cremation. Donate your sperm to earn up to $1,500/mo! Joseph, was plundered before his April 2004 cremation. It was not immediately known if the three funeral directors had attorneys. IE 11 is not supported. The three Philadelphia suspects were taken into custody and it 1,700 counts charged, such as running a criminal enterprise and The three Philadelphia suspects were taken into custody and it was not immediately clear if they had attorneys. In fact, the mother-daughter team had been illegally selling hundreds of corpses intended for cremation out of the family funeral home in Montrose, Colorado for almost a decade. So far, authorities have learned the true identities of only 48 of the 244 bodies, Abraham said. $1,700. otherwise healthy, prosecutors said. vowed to push for concurrent sentences. "For one thing, cremations made it easier to deceive the next of kin.". McCafferty Funeral Home opened up in December of 1970 and has had the honor to handle many high profile funerals including longtime Philadelphia Phillies broadcaster Harry Kalas. So far, authorities have learned the true identities of only 48 of the 244 bodies, Abraham said. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. 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. The Garzone brothers surrendered their state funeral licenses last year but continued to run their two homes, Abraham said. The industry leader for online information for tax, accounting and finance professionals. Megan Hess was . Respond: Write a letter to the editor | Write a guest opinion. The black-market sales went on from at least February 2004 through September 2005, prosecutors said. They have four or five deaths a day. A Colorado funeral home director accused of stealing and selling the body parts of hundreds of people has pleaded guilty to mail fraud. said. PHILADELPHIA (AP) - April 4, 2008 But prosecutors here are balking at any 2-for-1 deal. Morgan Cemetery McCafferty, 38, received significantly less time compared to his co-conspirators . This is the cost to purchase a burial vault from the funeral home. guilty. Written by Maya Davis. Michael Mastromarino, who operated the now-defunct Biomedical CNN has reached out to an attorney for Hess for comment. Wetzel and Son Funeral Home Inc. 6902 Rising Sun Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19111. The women ran Sunset Mesa Funeral Home in Montrose, Colorado. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. So far, authorities have Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. A second Garzone Funeral Home , at 4151 L St., also is charged. with the body parts being transplanted in unsuspecting medical A federal grand jury indicted Hess and Koch in 2020. 1:59 PM EST, Thu January 5, 2023. According to NBC, Hess is scheduled to be sentenced in January. transplant recipients suing tissue banks over the often-diseased Christian's grandfather was one of the victims at Sunset Mesa Funeral Home. Many families received ashes from bins mixed with the remains of different cadavers, authorities said, and one client received concrete mix instead of a relative's ashes. family consent forms, the indictment said. "Hess, and at times Koch, would meet with families seeking cremation services, and would offer to cremate the decedents' bodies and provide the remains back to the families," the DOJ added, stating that the funeral home "would charge $1,000 or more for cremations, but many never occurred.". A grand jury indictment charges that they were paid $1,000 per 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. her fear. being cremated quickly, the bodies were often left unrefrigerated The grand jury also charged Mastromarino and Lee Cruceta, a former nurse who allegedly ran the cutting crew, with similar counts. 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. More than 200 Pennsylvanians got tissue that came directly from the Garzone funeral homes, according to the grand jury report. 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. "One of the cutters said it was like the back of a butcher shop, According to NBC News, Hess and her mother now face 135 years in prison each. 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. 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. A change of plea hearing for Koch, who initially pleaded not guilty, is scheduled for July 12 added the outlet. 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. MONTROSE, Colo. Two operators of a western Colorado funeral home were sentenced to federal prison Tuesday after being accused of illegally selling the bodies or body parts of hundreds of . Dozens of patients, including some from Philadelphia and New Jersey, said they contracted hepatitis C after getting a transplant. Hess forged dozens of body donor consent forms, federal investigators found. An attorney for Koch, Thomas E. Goodreid, declined to comment. One of the cadavers was that of Alistair Cooke, the host of Masterpiece Theater, who died in 2004 of cancer. Anyone can read what you share. "I've yet to be shown a single shred of evidence that he knew Donate bone marrow for up to $3,000. 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. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. A lawyer for Sell your hair to earn up to $4,000! and provide for other medical needs, the 111-page indictment said. Find the indictment, photos, past coverage and more at http://go.philly.com/bodyparts EndText, By Troy Graham and Dwight Ott, Inquirer Staff Writers. Two family members and one friend of deceased people whose body parts were sold without permission by Hess spoke at the hearing. and skin from the corpses to be used in transplants, a grand jury See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. Families of the dead had no idea the bodies were being ransacked. Prosecutors are calling for Hess, who had previously pleaded not guilty, to be sentenced to 12 to 15 years in prison. Discovery Company. 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 . 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. 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. In Kensington, neighbors defended Louis Garzone. The company sold the parts to treat burns, replace broken bones and provide for other medical needs, the 111-page indictment said. One 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. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Market data provided by Factset. The body-part industry has been booming, growing from 200,000 transplants in 1989 to 1,200,000 in 2003. 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. Subscribe to stay connected to Tucson. PHILADELPHIA (AP) - April 4, 2008 Those body parts were sold to at least five processing companies and one major distributor. Disgraced South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh has been convicted of murder in the 2021 shootings of his wife and son. REUTERS/Mike Wood/File Photo. The company sold the body parts to treat burns, replace broken bones and provide for other medical needs, the indictment said. Brothers Louis and Gerald Garzone, along with James McCafferty, Screen for heightened risk individual and entities globally to help uncover hidden risks in business relationships and human networks.
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