Louis Garzone, 65, of Philadelphia, Gerald Garzone, 47, of North This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Prosecutors recommended a sentence for Hess of 12 to 15 years. "Despite receiving $1,959 per child from Stevie Wonder, Louis Garzone filed a welfare claim for $750 for each," the grand jury said. 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. The three Philadelphia suspects were taken into custody and it made millions on the scheme, prosecutors say. According to NBC, Hess is scheduled to be sentenced in January. 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. 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", Some of the parts taken in Philadelphia came from people who had died of cancer, sepsis, HIV and hepatitis, the grand jury said. Generally, a broker can sell a donated human body for about $3,000 to $5,000, though prices sometime . Mastromarino is already facing charges in New York for allegedly Subscribe to stay connected to Tucson. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. "He was victimized by the funeral directors. Prosecutors are calling for Hess, who had previously pleaded not guilty, to be sentenced to 12 to 15 years in prison. Former workers describe troubling practices at this mortuary. Explore life stories, offer tributes & condolences, send flowers or create a lasting online memorial for loved ones. [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. 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. The black-market sales went on from at least February 2004 through September 2005, prosecutors said. 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. Mastromarino, who ran a now-defunct company called Biomedical Tissue Services, is already facing charges in New York for allegedly plundering 1,077 bodies, including those from Philadelphia. 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. 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. The two women also delivered cremated remains to families that did not belong to the families loved ones, the news release said. One of the cadavers was that of Alistair Cooke, the host of Masterpiece Theater, who died in 2004 of cancer. In fact, the grand jury said, the lack of oversight helped Mastromarino go undetected for years, and it recommended a raft of changes that state and federal overseers should make. because there are bodies in Pennsylvania," Peruto said. Hess then "sold those remains to victims purchasing the remains for scientific, medical, or educational purposes," the release added. 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. 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.. The extent of any medical complications that resulted from the transplants remains unknown, she said. Indicted on similar counts were Brooklyn residents Mastromarino, who lost his oral surgery license amid unrelated drug charges, and Lee Cruceta, a former nurse who allegedly ran the cutting crew. When prodded by the judge, Hess agreed with the prosecution that she defrauded her victims, though she declined to go into detail. ", The statement added that "These shipments would be through the mail or on commercial air flights in violation of Department of Transportation regulations regarding the transportation of hazardous materials.". All Rights Reserved. More than 200 Pennsylvanians got tissue that came directly from the Garzone funeral homes, according to the grand jury report. 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. Other charges against Hess will be dropped under a plea agreement, the Sentinel said. 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. The 244 bodies fetched about $1,000 each, the grand jury found, Friday, April 4, 2008. $ 124.95 . 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. 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. Disgraced South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh has been convicted of murder in the 2021 shootings of his wife and son. Add to cart More. Both Hess and Koch originally had pleaded not guilty to the charges. years in Philadelphia, where they say his team of cutters plundered All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. Five indicted for selling body parts . According to The New York Times, Hess now faces up to 20 years in jail for her body part scheme, which was run out of the Sunset Mesa Funeral Directors in Montrose. 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. Get ready!!!! Mastromarino is already facing charges in New York for allegedly plundering 1,077 bodies, including those from Philadelphia. Prosecution seeks 12-15 year prison sentence, Colorado funeral home harvested and sold body parts. Instead of cremating the bodies, she harvested heads, spines, arms and legs and then sold them, according to court records. "My husband was a World War II veteran of three years," said Updated. 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 Hess is tentatively set to be sentenced in January. Auto Body Shops Auto Glass Repair Auto Parts Auto Repair Car Detailing Oil Change Roadside Assistance Tire Shops Towing Window Tinting. The Garzone brothers each own a funeral home and McCafferty was the director at a funeral home owned by his mother, the report said. 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. The body-part industry has been booming, growing from 200,000 transplants in 1989 to 1,200,000 in 2003. Two family members and one friend of deceased people whose body parts were sold without permission by Hess spoke at the hearing. One client received a concrete mix instead of the remains of their loved one. As with other commodities, prices for bodies and body parts fluctuate with market conditions. 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 . From 2010 through 2018, they would meet with people seeking cremation services either for themselves or their loved ones, according to the plea agreement. In Kensington, neighbors defended Louis Garzone. The defendants conduct was horrific and morbid and driven by greed, US Attorney Cole Finegan said. A federal grand jury indicted Hess and Koch in 2020. According to a report from the DOJ at the time of the arrests, Hess and Koch's mail scheme included shipping "bodies and body parts that tested positive for, or belonging to people who had died from, infectious diseases, including Hepatitis B and C, and HIV, after certifying to buyers that the remains were disease-free. woman who believes she contracted hepatitis from a tainted body guilty. for days, sometimes in alleys beside the funeral home, until a "They couldn't and wouldn't permit the dead to go to their graves with a shred of dignity," said District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham. innocent. A change of plea hearing for Koch is scheduled for July 12. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Those charges are pending, but seven New York funeral- home directors pleaded guilty last year to helping Mastromarino steal from bodies. Morgan Cemetery plea there last month. 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. IE 11 is not supported. All three men were jailed yesterday. She could face up to 20 years in prison. Colorado Funeral Home Director Sentenced to 20 Years in Jail for Illegally Selling Body Parts. Authorities said Mastromarino's company took bones and tissue from 1,077 bodies at funeral homes in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, making $3.8 million in illegal profits. Dion Rassias, an attorney for the James A. McCafferty Funeral Home, at Frankford and Unruh Avenues in Mayfair, said James McCafferty Jr. was not a director at his mother's funeral home. Burial vault. 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 . All Rights Reserved. guilty and, along with Mastromarino, are set for trial on Sept. 2. Associated Press. Philadelphia, Peruto said. and skin from the corpses to be used in transplants, a grand jury Michael Mastromarino, who operated the now-defunct Biomedical He said the state was investigating whether Louis and Gerald Garzone were still running their businesses without a license. Dozens of patients, including some from Philadelphia and New Jersey, said they contracted hepatitis C after getting a transplant. All rights reserved. A Colorado funeral home director accused of stealing and selling the body parts of hundreds of people has pleaded guilty to mail fraud. We hope these prison sentences will bring the victims family members some amount of peace as they move forward in the grieving process.. The group also lowered the donors' ages and changed their dates is on trial in New York. A Warner Bros. A Colorado funeral home operator accused of illegally selling body parts and giving clients fake ashes was sentenced to 20 years in prison Tuesday by a federal court judge. "He was victimized by the funeral directors. 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. James E Fyfe Funeral Director. the families' knowledge or permission. who lost his oral surgery license amid unrelated drug charges, and They were arrested in 2020 and charged with six counts of mail fraud and three counts of illegal transportation of hazardous materials. Megan Hess, 46, was sentenced Tuesday at a hearing in Grand Junction, Colorado for dissecting 560 . The two men were expected to surrender to Philadelphia authorities this week. Human Corpse Being Transported to Funeral Home Ejected from Van in Pileup on N.J. Freeway. "Masterpiece Theatre" host Alistair Cooke. 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 . last year but continued to run their two homes in Philadelphia, charged Thursday after a 16-month investigation. "One of the cutters said it was like the back of a butcher shop, Nine-year-old Lyric Jones and her mother, Teran Christian, stand outside the courthouse in Grand Junction, Colorado, on Tuesday. 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. She has been out on bond since her arrest in 2020. Thank you for visiting McCafferty Funeral & Cremation Inc. website. Expand. Written by Maya Davis. 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. The empty Sunset Mesa Funeral Directors & Donor Services in Montrose, Colorado. Many families received ashes mixed with the remains of different cadavers, prosecutors said. The black-market sales occurred from at least February 2004 through September 2005, prosecutors said. 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. charged. Browse an unrivalled portfolio of real-time and historical market data and insights from worldwide sources and experts. The department's position that Trump is not immune from suit was laid out in a filing before a federal appeals court. 2023 Cable News Network. Agnes Folger believes the body of her 81-year-old husband, Funeral directors Louis Garzone, 65, of Philadelphia; his An attorney for Gerald Garzone did not return a phone call seeking comment. Famous Brooklyn Funeral Home Selling Body Parts 2022. GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (AP) A Colorado funeral home operator accused of illegally selling body parts and giving clients fake ashes was sentenced to 20 years in prison Tuesday by a federal court . Mobi Medical Supply also offers quality mortuary stretchers and cots for the funeral home and removal services industry. Experts estimate that a single body can be worth $100,000 in parts, and the industry as a whole has topped $1 billion in revenue per year. A former Colorado funeral home owner was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison on Tuesday for defrauding relatives of the dead by dissecting 560 corpses and selling body parts without permission . Anyone can read what you share. This is a common price to purchase funeral flowers. 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Several funeral home operators in New York have also pleaded "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. The company sold the body parts to treat burns, replace broken bones and provide for other medical needs, the indictment said. Mastromarino, 44, remains in New York custody after his guilty A subscription helps you access more of the local stories that keep you connected to the community. was HIV-positive and suffered from hepatitis C and cancer. McCafferty, 38, received significantly less time compared to his co-conspirators - brothers . "My job is to make sure he doesn't do additional time just "They were motivated by greed.". Like Gore, Rathburn would also be convicted but in federal court of fraud for selling and transporting infected body parts. Buy this on Ever Loved. of Philadelphia, and Gerald Garzone, 47, of North Wales, along with James McCafferty, 37, of Philadelphia, provided the bodies to Michael Mastromarino and . Funeral Home Operator Pleads Guilty in Illegal Body Part Scheme, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/05/us/colorado-funeral-home-owner-body-parts-guilty.html. "For them, nothing was beyond the pale - not stealing flesh and bones from the dead or lying to the bereaved, not forging and lying on thousands of documents, not putting the public's health at risk," the report said. Hess had been scheduled to go on trial in three weeks along with her mother, Shirley Koch, who also previously pleaded not guilty. (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 . By The Associated Press. 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. After the body parts were removed, the deceased were taken across the street to Liberty for cremation. processors," defense lawyer Mario Gallucci said Thursday. The United States Attorney's Office for the District . The defendants typically made up names for the donors and forged family consent forms, the indictment said. "He's going to plead not guilty, and from what I've heard, the amount that's been suggested for bail is excessive. The three men also jointly own Liberty Cremation. CNNs Julie In and Hannah Rabinowitz contributed to this report. In 2014, the FBI raided Gore's chop shop in Phoenix, and were . 1,700 counts charged, such as running a criminal enterprise and 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. Mastromarino Mastromarino - and the sensational accusations against him - first drew national headlines last year when he and three employees were charged in Brooklyn, N.Y., in a 122-count indictment. Prior to the raid, the cost of purchasing an arm and shoulder was $600. All rights reserved. Those body parts were sold to at least five processing companies and one major distributor. 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. See reviews, photos, directions, phone numbers and more for Mccafferty Funeral Home locations in Ambler, PA. . Cruceta, who lives in Monroe, N.Y., said he believes his client is Then amdk realised the luggage is overflowing with blood. corruption, body stealing and reckless endangerment. Seven funeral directors there have pleaded guilty, including one whose funeral home allegedly removed parts from the body of the late "Masterpiece Theatre" host Alistair Cooke. Selling organs such as hearts, kidneys and tendons for transplant is illegal in the United States. A grand jury indictment charges that they were paid $1,000 per In any case, the documents say, on hundreds of occasions the funeral home operators would sell heads, torsos, arms, legs or entire human bodies. Philadelphia on Friday, but defense lawyer Charles A. Peruto Jr. Others were "riddled with infections.". 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 . 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 defendants typically made up names for the donors and also forged family consent forms, the indictment said. FBI agents found that Hess forged dozens of body-donor consent forms. "We, by law, had to grant [James Garzone] his license," said Basil Merenda, commissioner of the state Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs. Attorney Lynne Abraham said at a news conference. A human head and spine sold for $850, while a full pelvis all the way to the toes priced out at $2,850. Megan Hess and her mother Shirley Koch defrauded over 200 families by handing over random ashes while selling body parts of deceased individuals entrusted to their funeral home. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. beauty. Even when families agreed to donation, the news release said, Hess and Koch sometimes sold the remains beyond what the family had authorized. PHILADELPHIA Three funeral directors sold hundreds of bodies Hundreds of patient lawsuits have been filed in federal court in New Jersey and state courts around the country. Megan Hess, operator of Donor Services, in Montrose, Colo., pleaded guilty to mail fraud on Tuesday. Second plea in U.S. funeral home scheme to sell body parts. to a former oral surgeon who allegedly collected the bones, tissue They each pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud and aiding and abetting. "He's obviously not in great spirits, but he's doing OK given the circumstances.". On dozens of occasions, Hess and Koch transferred bodies or body parts to third parties for research without families knowledge, according to the U.S. Justice Department. The cause was bone and brain cancer, said his attorney, Mario Gallucci. Seven Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Donate your sperm to earn up to $1,500/mo! Charges also were filed against Louis and Gerald Garzone's funeral homes and the crematorium, but not the McCafferty funeral home. The family of actor Tom Sizemore is currently "deciding end of life matters" following an update from doctors, according to a statement receiv. replacements and other procedures around the country. cutter arrived, authorities said. "He learned the true identities of only 48 of the 244 bodies, Abraham donors had died of heart attacks or blunt-force trauma but were Most brokers who sell body parts offer to cremate part of the donor's body for free. 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. Former workers told Reuters about questionable practices at the facility, including the dismembering of bodies without the knowledge or consent of families. Mastromarino pleaded guilty to 14 counts that include enterprise "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. Lee Cruceta, 35, of Monroe, N.Y., has admitted to being The scheme included forging paperwork, such as signatures on authorization forms for donating body parts, and misleading buyers about the results of medical tests performed on the deceased, court documents said. Lee Cruceta, a former nurse who allegedly ran the cutting crew. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. She also offered free cremations in exchange for a body donation. If you wish to speak to Mark McCafferty right away please call 215-531-5014 or 215-432-8339 (cell) or 267-978-8869 (cell). Respond: Write a letter to the editor | Write a guest opinion. The Garzone brothers surrendered their state funeral licenses last year but continued to run their two homes, Abraham said. 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. cannot be certain of her claim because of the lack of records or a She operated a funeral home, Sunset Mesa, and a body parts entity . vowed to push for concurrent sentences. The lucrative parts were One woman who believes she contracted hepatitis from a tainted body part is pursuing a civil suit, Abraham said. Abraham said. "I love Louis.". He said he anticipated that prosecutors would ask for a high bail at an arraigment today. During the hearing, the judge asked Hess to describe in her own words the crimes she committed. 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. But prosecutors here are balking at any 2-for-1 deal. The most expensive prices were for an upper torso that included a head and arms ($4,000) and the cost of an entire body was $5,000, according to the price list. Megan Hess, who pleaded guilty to mail fraud, sold body parts without families consent in a business she operated with her mother, officials said.
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