Three funeral directors sold 244 corpses for about $1,000 each to a New York businessman who trafficked in the resale of often-diseased body parts, a grand jury charged Thursday. By The Associated Press. In any case, the documents say, on hundreds of occasions the funeral home operators would sell heads, torsos, arms, legs or entire human bodies. "No penalty is too harsh for these guys, for the just at least 244 corpses. Brothers Louis and Gerald Garzone, along with James McCafferty, MONTROSE, Colo. When funeral directors Megan Hess and Shirley Koch were sentenced after admitting to illegally selling body parts from the Sunset Mesa . 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 is already facing charges in New York for allegedly plundering 1,077 bodies, including those from Philadelphia. Expand. A Colorado woman who operated a funeral home pleaded guilty to fraud this week after being accused of stealing and selling bodies and body parts, officials said. certificates to make the parts appear usable, the grand jury The three Philadelphia suspects were taken into custody and it was not immediately clear if they had attorneys. Mom Who Vanished While Celebrating St. Patrick's Day in 2018, Missouri Man Killed 4-Year-Old Girl by Beating, Dunking Her in Icy Pond as Part of 'Religious-Type Episode', Sherri Papini, Who Once Paid Off Credit Cards with Donations from Hoax, Now Owes $309,688 in Restitution, Socialite Mom Pleads Guilty to Secretly Filming Minors for 'Sexual Pleasure' in Her Conn. 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. "They have four or five deaths a day. do was come and harvest the tissue and send the samples down to the Hess charged families up to $1,000 for cremations that never occurred, prosecutors said, and she also offered others a free cremation in exchange for a body donation. 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. vowed to push for concurrent sentences. The hoax revelation was first carried by the Ma But the sale of cadavers and body parts for use in research or education, which is what Hess did, is not regulated by federal law. Hundreds of patient lawsuits have been filed in federal court in New Jersey and state courts around the country. her fear. Tissue Services of Fort Lee, N.J., ran the scheme with help from a Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Even when families agreed to donation, the news release said, Hess and Koch sometimes sold the remains beyond what the family had authorized. Explore life stories, offer tributes & condolences, send flowers or create a lasting online memorial for loved ones. Two family members and one friend of deceased people whose body parts were sold without permission by Hess spoke at the hearing. The United States Attorney's Office for the District . A former Colorado funeral home operator pleaded guilty this week to stealing and selling human remains and body parts that were intended for cremation, federal prosecutors said. to a former oral surgeon who allegedly collected the bones, tissue The three Philadelphia suspects were taken into custody and it Meeting with hospice on the 4th opening the floodgates of donors, Hess wrote to a prospective body-part buyer in 2014. The founder of that company, Michael Mastromarino, a dentist stripped of his license for drug offenses, and his partner, Lee Cruceta, also were charged yesterday. That term was cut short Sunday morning when Mastromarino, 49, died at a New York hospital. Tweet. 1,700 counts charged, such as running a criminal enterprise and Both Hess and Koch originally had pleaded not guilty to the charges. A second Garzone Funeral Home , at 4151 L St., also is charged. Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. When prodded by the judge, Hess agreed with the prosecution that she defrauded her victims, though she declined to go into detail. Mastromarino will also testify, if necessary, against his So far, authorities have learned the true identities of only 48 of the 244 bodies, Abraham said. All Rights Reserved. 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. Hess then "sold those remains to victims purchasing the remains for scientific, medical, or educational purposes," the release added. One of the "cutters" who removed body parts told the grand jury that he once saw a body in the alley, covered with a blue "Astroturf-like material," a sparrow perched on the head. Reuters provides business, financial, national and international news to professionals via desktop terminals, the world's media organizations, industry events and directly to consumers. 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 . Written by Maya Davis. funeral home allegedly removed parts from the body of the late conspiracy, they said. By John Shiffman. Ms. Koch has pleaded not guilty, but she has a change of plea hearing scheduled for July 12. The funeral "We, by law, had to grant [James Garzone] his license," said Basil Merenda, commissioner of the state Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs. Other charges against Hess will be dropped under a plea agreement, the Sentinel said. Koch's change-of-plea hearing is set for July 12. The grand jury said five Philadelphia and 41 Pennsylvania hospitals implanted parts that originated with Mastromarino's operation. He said the state was investigating whether Louis and Gerald Garzone were still running their businesses without a license. 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. So far, authorities have Im taking responsibility.. 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. 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 authorities called an illegal body part scheme, pleaded guilty to mail fraud on Tuesday, the Justice Department said. About 10,000 people received tissue supplied by BTS. She operated a funeral home, Sunset Mesa, and a body parts entity . IE 11 is not supported. said. So far, authorities have learned the true identities of only 48 of the 244 bodies, Abraham said. Find 1 listings related to Mccafferty Funeral Home in Ambler on YP.com. Families of the dead had no idea the bodies were being ransacked. Megan Hess, 46, pleaded guilty to fraud in July. They took remains without permission from 244 cadavers, an indictment says. While the mostly poor families thought their loved ones were being cremated quickly, the bodies were often left unrefrigerated for days, sometimes in alleys beside the funeral home, until a cutter arrived, authorities said. The women ran Sunset Mesa Funeral Home in Montrose, Colorado. He said he anticipated that prosecutors would ask for a high bail at an arraigment today. The latest Gabs from KenMatthews (@KenMatthews). appreciated. A former Colorado funeral home owner pleaded guilty to secretly dissecting corpses and selling body parts without consent from mourning relatives. About a month after the Reuters stories, the FBI raided the site and state regulators shuttered the funeral home and crematory. But instead of offering guidance, these greedy women betrayed the trust of hundreds of victims and mutilated their loved ones, Leonard Carollo, the acting special agent in charge at the FBI in Denver, said in a news release. Philadelphia on Friday, but defense lawyer Charles A. Peruto Jr. FOR TRANSFERRING BODY ONLY. 20 years for crimes in both states. He has agreed to help locate records for the families and Lee Cruceta, 35, of Monroe, N.Y., has admitted to being Attorney Lynne Abraham said at a news conference. A Colorado funeral home director accused of stealing and selling the body parts of hundreds of people has pleaded guilty to mail fraud. 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. Those charges are pending, but seven New York funeral- home directors pleaded guilty last year to helping Mastromarino steal from bodies. 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. "They were motivated by greed.". A change of plea hearing for Koch is scheduled for July 12. Burial vault. Market data provided by Factset. last year but continued to run their two homes in Philadelphia, company that shipped bones, skin and tendons to tissue processors. 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. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. 2. Then amdk realised the luggage is overflowing with blood. Former workers told Reuters about questionable practices at the facility, including the dismembering of bodies without the knowledge or consent of families. 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. I exceeded the scope of the consent and Im trying to make an effort to make it right, Ms. Hess said in United States District Court in Grand Junction, Colo., on Tuesday, according to The Daily Sentinel. Christian's grandfather was one of the victims at Sunset Mesa Funeral Home. In one such case, the donor was HIV-positive and suffered from hepatitis C and cancer. came home in one piece from the war. Indicted on similar counts were Brooklyn residents Mastromarino, for days, sometimes in alleys beside the funeral home, until a Generally, a broker can sell a donated human body for about $3,000 to $5,000, though prices sometime . Louis Garzone's attorney, Howard Kaufman, said he had not seen the grand jury report and so could not comment on the charges. 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 . The company sold the parts to treat burns, replace broken bones and provide for other medical needs, the 111-page indictment said. McCafferty, 37, of Philadelphia; were arrested Thursday on A mother and daughter who ran a Colorado funeral home have been arrested for selling body parts and even entire bodies without consent from grieving relatives, federal authorities said . In such circumstances, despite lacking any authorization, Koch and Hess recovered body parts from, or otherwise prepared entire bodies of hundreds of decedents for body broker services.. 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The largest demand is for bone used in spinal surgery, but a growing sports-medicine business also has driven up demand for tendons, ligaments and cartilage. An attorney for Koch, Thomas E. Goodreid, declined to comment. One woman who believes she contracted hepatitis from a tainted body part is pursuing a civil suit, Abraham said. part is pursuing a civil suit, Abraham said. the families' knowledge or permission. One of the cadavers was that of Alistair Cooke, the host of Masterpiece Theater, who died in 2004 of cancer. (Reuters) - A second Colorado woman pleaded guilty on Tuesday to defrauding relatives of the dead as part of a scheme in which a funeral home sold body parts without permission .
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