Carie Hallford, co-owner of a Penrose funeral home, was sentenced yesterday to 18 years in prison on federal fraud charges, marking another major development in a case that has shocked families and communities across Colorado.
According to court officials, Hallford’s federal sentence will run concurrently with her existing state sentence. In addition to prison time, she will face three years of supervised probation upon release and has been ordered to pay more than $1 million in restitution.
Hallford and her now ex-husband, Jon Hallford, formerly operated Return to Nature Funeral Home. Both previously accepted plea deals in a separate state criminal case involving disturbing allegations of misconduct. Prosecutors say the couple left 189 bodies to decompose without proper cremation or burial, betraying the trust of grieving families.
Authorities also accused the pair of stealing more than $130,000 from clients who paid for funeral services, including cremations. In many cases, families were allegedly given urns filled with concrete mix instead of their loved ones’ remains.
In August, Hallford pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. As part of her plea, she admitted that she and her ex-husband defrauded the federal government of approximately $882,000 in pandemic-related small business aid.
Jon Hallford was previously sentenced to 20 years in prison in June of last year on federal wire fraud charges.
The case has drawn national attention, raising serious concerns about oversight in the funeral services industry and leaving hundreds of families seeking justice and closure.
