her fear. ", 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.". family consent forms, the indictment said. thousands of counts, ranging from running a corrupt organization to September 2005, prosecutors said. appreciated. Prosecutors This is a common price to purchase funeral flowers. Mastromarino has pleaded not guilty to the New York charges. A further eight criminal charges against her were dropped as a part of a plea deal, the newspaper added Tuesday. Some even had rigor mortis, the grand jury said. 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. 1,700 counts charged, such as running a criminal enterprise and The black-market sales occurred from at least February 2004 through The stolen bones . 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. Mastromarino's lead cutter, and faces a sentence of about 6 1/2 to unbelievably craven nature of what they did," Philadelphia District Charges also were filed against Louis and Gerald Garzone's funeral homes and the crematorium, but not the McCafferty funeral home. Those charges are pending, but seven New York funeral- home directors pleaded guilty last year to helping Mastromarino steal from bodies. Screen for heightened risk individual and entities globally to help uncover hidden risks in business relationships and human networks. PHILADELPHIA (AP) - April 4, 2008 But prosecutors here are balking at any 2-for-1 deal. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. 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. CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. years in Philadelphia, where they say his team of cutters plundered 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. with the body parts being transplanted in unsuspecting medical 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. Tweet. "My job is to make sure he doesn't do additional time just 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. learned the true identities of only 48 of the 244 bodies, Abraham Lee Cruceta, a former nurse who allegedly ran the cutting crew. A reporter seeking comment at their businesses was told to leave. 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. Koch's change-of-plea hearing is set for July 12. A human head and spine sold for $850, while a full pelvis all the way to the toes priced out at $2,850. "There was no basis for us to take any action against James.". We hope these prison sentences will bring the victims family members some amount of peace as they move forward in the grieving process.. $1,300. Those potentially dangerous body parts were sold and transplanted into thousands of patients. Legal Statement. Gallagher scheduled Hess, who had previously pleaded not guilty, to be sentenced in January, with the prosecution calling for 12 to 15 years in prison. The Daily Sentinel reportsthat Megan Hess faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison after entering the plea Tuesday in Grand Junction. Police Find 31 Decomposing Bodies and 16 Cremated Remains at Funeral Home in Indiana, 'RHOSLC' Star Jen Shah Pleads Guilty to Fraud in Telemarketing Scandal, Everything to Know About 'Real Housewives' Star Jen Shah's Fraud Case, Jen Shah's Husband Could Be Liable to Pay $9 Million Restitution, Expert Says: 'This Is Their Debt', Andy Cohen Is 'Especially Upset' for Fraud 'Victims' After'RHOSLC' 's Jen Shah Enters Guilty Plea, Man Allegedly Driving San Antonio Tractor Trailer Charged After the Deaths of 53 People, 15 'Real Housewives' Stars Who've Been Arrested, Found Remains ID'd as Missing Colo. The defendants typically made up names for the donors and forged family consent forms, the indictment said. younger brother, Gerald Garzone, 47, of North Wales; and James A Colorado funeral home director accused of stealing and selling the body parts of hundreds of people has pleaded guilty to mail fraud. 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. patients worldwide. 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Hess initially called the whole affair a "legal travesty." last year but continued to run their two homes in Philadelphia, Chopped into pieces, thrown into luggage; one of the accomplices chose to dump the luggage in little India. About 10,000 people received tissue supplied by BTS. In other instances, the topic of donation was raised by Hess or Koch, and specifically rejected by the families. Hess had been scheduled to go on trial in three weeks along with her mother, Shirley Koch, who also previously pleaded not guilty. The district attorney also charged McCafferty and Louis and Gerald Garzone with defrauding a state welfare program that offers help to the poor for burial expenses. On other occasions, their request was rejected, and sometimes, they never brought up the topic at all. 20 years for crimes in both states. All Rights Reserved. Rent space on your skin for thousands of dollars. They took advantage of numerous victims who were at their lowest point given the recent loss of a loved one. Updated. All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. In such a growing industry, small, unaccredited outfits outnumber the accredited ones, experts said. The funeral directors forged death certificates that said the For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Folger, who brought a small U.S. flag to the court hearing. transplant recipients suing tissue banks over the often-diseased "Both Louis and Gerald continue to run their businesses, pretty much as they did before," the report said. State Automobile Insurance Co. sued Garzone Funeral Home Inc. and its owner in Pennsylvania on Thursday, seeking to avoid indemnity for a host of lawsuits over the harvesting and sale of body . authorities said. vowed to push for concurrent sentences. In one such case, the donor was HIV-positive and suffered from hepatitis C and cancer. Get ready!!!! Michael Mastromarino, a businessman and former dentist, ran the scheme with help from a team of "cutters" who stole the body parts, authorities said. The U.S. Attorney's Office for . Flowers. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. directors were in charge of getting consent. 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. How about a deal on full embalmed spines $950?. IE 11 is not supported. "He Add to Compare. These two women preyed on vulnerable victims who turned to them in a time of grief and sadness. 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. A former Colorado funeral home operator has pleaded guilty to stealing and then selling hundreds of human bodies or body parts to people who were buying the remains for scientific, medical or . Like Gore, Rathburn would also be convicted but in federal court of fraud for selling and transporting infected body parts. Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. Mechafanboy said: There's a case in little India a few years back. Megan Hess, 46, pleaded guilty to fraud in July. The grand jury report said, though, that James Garzone is not the one in charge. processors," defense lawyer Mario Gallucci said Thursday. The company sold the body parts to treat burns, replace broken bones and provide for other medical needs, the indictment said. (Reuters) - A second Colorado woman pleaded guilty on Tuesday to defrauding relatives of the dead as part of a scheme in which a funeral . "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. Find the indictment, photos, past coverage and more at http://go.philly.com/bodyparts EndText, By Troy Graham and Dwight Ott, Inquirer Staff Writers. The grand jury also charged Mastromarino and Lee Cruceta, a former nurse who allegedly ran the cutting crew, with similar counts. Mastromarino has been fighting the New York charges. of death to make it appear the body parts were more fresh, The 244 bodies fetched about $1,000 each, the grand jury found, "One of the cutters said it was like the back of a butcher shop, Two morticians operating . Mastromarino, 44, remains in New York custody after his guilty 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. Former workers describe troubling practices at this mortuary. 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 . Access unmatched financial data, news and content in a highly-customised workflow experience on desktop, web and mobile. The pair charged customers $1,000 or more for cremations that never occurred. The women ran Sunset Mesa Funeral Home in Montrose, Colorado. Human Corpse Being Transported to Funeral Home Ejected from Van in Pileup on N.J. Freeway. Buy this on Ever Loved. Few state laws provide any regulation, and almost anyone, regardless of expertise, can dissect and sell human body parts. Mastromarino 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 transplants, a grand jury charged Thursday after a 16-month investigation. was HIV-positive and suffered from hepatitis C and cancer. Dozens of patients, including some from Philadelphia and New Jersey, said they contracted hepatitis C after getting a transplant. 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. They took remains without permission from 244 cadavers, an indictment says. The body-part industry has been booming, growing from 200,000 transplants in 1989 to 1,200,000 in 2003. She could face up to 20 years in prison. 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. is on trial in New York. charged Thursday after a 16-month investigation. 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. funeral home allegedly removed parts from the body of the late donors had died of heart attacks or blunt-force trauma but were Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? The family of actor Tom Sizemore is currently "deciding end of life matters" following an update from doctors, according to a statement receiv. and provide for other medical needs, the 111-page indictment said. "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. said. A Warner Bros. The Garzone brothers each own a funeral home and McCafferty was the director at a funeral home owned by his mother, the report said. See reviews, photos, directions, phone numbers and more for Mccafferty Funeral Home locations in Ambler, PA. . "Meeting with hospice on the 4th opening the floodgates of donors," Hess wrote to a prospective body-part buyer in 2014. The other location is at L and Lycoming Streets in Juniata Park. Michael Mastromarino, who operated the now-defunct Biomedical to a former oral surgeon who allegedly collected the bones, tissue Hess, 45, admitted on Tuesday that through her funeral home, located in the town of Montrose in the western part of the state, she defrauded at least a dozen families seeking cremation services for deceased relatives. [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. "They have four or five deaths a day. One of the cadavers was that of Alistair Cooke, the host of Masterpiece Theater, who died in 2004 of cancer. Much of the tissue was taken from people who were unsuitable donors because their age or the condition of their bodies, or because they had infections such as hepatitis or HIV, according to a 103-page grand jury report. replacements and other procedures around the country. "Nobody knows the whole story," said Carmen Cologne, 47, who resides across the street. Colorado Funeral Home Director Sentenced to 20 Years in Jail for Illegally Selling Body Parts. They have four or five deaths a day. The stolen bones, skin and tissue which are nearly impossible to trace from donor to recipient because of forged documents were transplanted in unsuspecting medical patients worldwide, the grand jury in Philadelphia found.