Updated. 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. MONTROSE, Colo. When funeral directors Megan Hess and Shirley Koch were sentenced after admitting to illegally selling body parts from the Sunset Mesa . 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.. at least 244 corpses. 2023 Cable News Network. vowed to push for concurrent sentences. Those charges are pending, but seven New York funeral- home directors pleaded guilty last year to helping Mastromarino steal from bodies. July 5, 2022. part is pursuing a civil suit, Abraham said. Mastromarino has been fighting the New York charges. 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. 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. The other location is at L and Lycoming Streets in Juniata Park. "Meeting with hospice on the 4th opening the floodgates of donors," Hess wrote to a prospective body-part buyer in 2014. She operated a funeral home, Sunset Mesa, and a body parts entity . Louis Garzone, 65, of Philadelphia, Gerald Garzone, 47, of North 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. of Philadelphia, and Gerald Garzone, 47, of North Wales, along with James McCafferty, 37, of Philadelphia, provided the bodies to Michael Mastromarino and . About 10,000 people received tissue supplied by BTS. Hess, 45, and her mother, Shirley Koch, operated the Sunset Mesa Funeral Home in Montrose. 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. being cremated quickly, the bodies were often left unrefrigerated How about a deal on full embalmed spines $950?. Church Truck Drapes; Funeral Supplies . patients worldwide. By The Associated Press. corpse to let Mastromarino's "cutters" hack up bodies, without 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. Wetzel and Son Funeral Home Inc. 6902 Rising Sun Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19111. See reviews, photos, directions, phone numbers and more for Mccafferty Funeral Home locations in Ambler, PA. . "My job is to make sure he doesn't do additional time just The defendants typically made up names for the donors and forged The Garzone brothers voluntarily surrendered their funeral director licenses last year, and the state revoked McCafferty's in an unrelated case about a month ago, officials said. Michael Mastromarino, who operated the now-defunct Biomedical then sold to the tissue banks for dental implants, knee and hip Lawyers for Ms. Hess did not immediately reply to requests for comment on Tuesday. 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 . Joseph, was plundered before his April 2004 cremation. PHILADELPHIA Three funeral directors sold hundreds of bodies 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. 20 years for crimes in both states. All rights reserved. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. A human head and spine sold for $850, while a full pelvis all the way to the toes priced out at $2,850. In 2022 Ken Matthews was ranked #70 of the 100 most important Talk Radio Show Hosts in America by the radio industry's TALKERS magazine. The extent of any medical complications that resulted from the transplants remains unknown, she said. do was come and harvest the tissue and send the samples down to the "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 body-part industry has been booming, growing from 200,000 transplants in 1989 to 1,200,000 in 2003. cutter arrived, authorities said. Legal Statement. According to NBC, Hess is scheduled to be sentenced in January. When the cheerleading coach broke the news to Katrina Kohel that she was the only one left on the cheer squad, Kohel was determined to compete anyway. "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. They each pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud and aiding and abetting. company that shipped bones, skin and tendons to tissue processors. Ms. Hess altered lab reports so that they said that people had tested negative for diseases like H.I.V. By John Shiffman. Mastromarino, 44, remains in New York custody after his guilty In other instances, the topic of donation was raised by Hess or Koch, and specifically rejected by the families. Hess had created a nonprofit organization in 2009 called Sunset Mesa Funeral Foundation as a body-broker service doing business as Donor Services, authorities said. However, it isn't clear whether what they were allegedly doing is illegal in any way . A Warner Bros. Philadelphia on Friday, but defense lawyer Charles A. Peruto Jr. The looted bodies in New York include that of "Masterpiece "Hess and Koch also delivered remains to families with the representation that the remains were that of the deceased when, frequently, that was not the case," it added. 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. charged Thursday after a 16-month investigation. July 5 (Reuters) - A former Colorado funeral home owner pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a federal charge of defrauding relatives of the dead by dissecting their family members' corpses and selling the body parts without permission, a practice exposed in a 2018 Reuters investigative report. corruption, body stealing and reckless endangerment. "I've yet to be shown a single shred of evidence that he knew what was going on," lawyer George Vomvolakis said. Thanks for contacting us. After the body parts were removed, the deceased were taken across the street to Liberty for cremation. The empty Sunset Mesa Funeral Directors & Donor Services in Montrose, Colorado. The grand jury also charged Mastromarino and Lee Cruceta, a former nurse who allegedly ran the cutting crew, with similar counts. Donate your eggs to earn up to $10,000! 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. The garzone brothers each own a funeral home and mccafferty was the director at a funeral home owned by his mother, the report said. Im taking responsibility.. Respond: Write a letter to the editor | Write a guest opinion. McCafferty, 38, received significantly less time compared to his co-conspirators . 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. unbelievably craven nature of what they did," Philadelphia District 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. The funeral directors were in charge of getting consent. made millions on the scheme, prosecutors say. 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. plea with New York prosecutors, he agreed to forfeit $4.68 million. "One of the cutters said it was like the back of a butcher shop, So far, authorities have learned the true identities of only 48 of the 244 bodies, Abraham said. 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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. 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. Mastromarino plans to surrender Tuesday and will fight the charges, his lawyer said. guilty and, along with Mastromarino, are set for trial on Sept. 2. Two Colorado funeral home operators who sold body parts or bodies in a scheme a prosecutor called "horrific" were sentenced to prison Tuesday, officials said.. Megan Hess, 46, was sentenced to 20 years in prison and her mother, Shirley Koch, 69, was sentenced to 15 years, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Colorado said in a statement. came home in one piece from the war. 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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. CNN has reached out to an attorney for Hess for comment. He and Assistant District Attorney Bruce Sagel expect "My husband was a World War II veteran of three years," said authorities 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 department's position that Trump is not immune from suit was laid out in a filing before a federal appeals court. Prosecutors recommended a sentence for Hess of 12 to 15 years. 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. Updated Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? IE 11 is not supported. Those body parts were sold to at least five processing companies and one major distributor. Mastromarino will also testify, if necessary, against his Megan Hess faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to federal mail fraud. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The funeral directors were in charge of getting consent. Funeral directors Louis Garzone, 65, of Philadelphia; his . 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. The group also lowered the donors' ages and changed their dates Obituaries from the McCafferty-Sweeney Funeral Home, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The three Philadelphia suspects were taken into custody and it was not immediately clear if they had attorneys. Browse an unrivalled portfolio of real-time and historical market data and insights from worldwide sources and experts. was HIV-positive and suffered from hepatitis C and cancer. The income the mother and daughter earned from selling body parts enabled them to become the cheapest option for cremations in their region, increasing their supply of cadavers, the authorities said. Others were "riddled with infections.". The funeral 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. Mastromarino owned Biomedical Tissue Services, a New Jersey Megan Hess, 45, admitted to a single count of mail fraud and aiding and abetting, the Department of Justice announced in a press release on Tuesday. Sell your poop for up to $1,500 per month. 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 The grand jury said five Philadelphia and 41 Pennsylvania hospitals implanted parts that originated with Mastromarino's operation. 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. One Buy this on Ever Loved. Screen for heightened risk individual and entities globally to help uncover hidden risks in business relationships and human networks. said. Five indicted for selling body parts . with the body parts being transplanted in unsuspecting medical The defendants conduct was horrific and morbid and driven by greed, US Attorney Cole Finegan said. Keep reading with a digital access subscription. Mastromarino's lead cutter, and faces a sentence of about 6 1/2 to Koch's change-of-plea hearing is set for July 12. Agnes Folger believes the body of her 81-year-old husband, by the Garzones. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. A lawyer for Charges also were filed against Louis and Gerald Garzone's funeral homes and the crematorium, but not the McCafferty funeral home. Rent space on your skin for thousands of dollars. About a month after the Reuters stories, the FBI raided the site and state regulators shuttered the funeral home and crematory. thousands of counts, ranging from running a corrupt organization to Hundreds of patient lawsuits have been filed in federal court in New Jersey and state courts around the country. Seven In one such case, the donor was HIV-positive and suffered from hepatitis C and cancer. CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the worlds largest multimedia news provider, reaching billions of people worldwide every day. Theatre" host Alistair Cooke. "He was victimized by the funeral directors. 1:59 PM EST, Thu January 5, 2023. 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. While the women sometimes received consent from families "to donate small tissue samples or tumors of their dead relatives," the New York Times reported that the pair supplied body parts for research even when families were never asked for their approval or rejected the request in advance. In such a growing industry, small, unaccredited outfits outnumber the accredited ones, experts said. In one such case, the donor Get ready!!!! Megan Hess was sentenced to 20 years in prison and her mother, Shirley Koch, received 15 years for their involvement in the scheme to sell the human remains to body broker services, according to federal prosecutors. On his way to dispose the luggage, a amdk Samaritan saw the man struggling with the luggage and offered to help. All Rights Reserved. This is a common price to purchase funeral flowers. Market data provided by Factset. Tweet. 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. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, Louis Garzone even ran this scheme, the grand jury said, in the case of five children killed in a 2005 fire in Tacony, a tragedy that drew an offer from the musician Stevie Wonder to pay for the funerals. 8-year-old cheerleader dies after Fourth of July parade ac Canadian teacher with size-Z prosthetic breasts placed on paid leave, What's next for Buster Murdaugh after dad's murder conviction, life sentence, Murdaugh son collapsed outside court after sitting stone-faced through dad's 6-week murder trial: source, Hated Tom Sandoval addresses Ariana Madix split amid cheating claims, Kelly Osbourne posts first photo of baby son as he hangs out with uncle Jack, Greys Anatomy alum Isaiah Washington retiring from acting: The haters have won, Max Scherzer's first look at the new pitch clock, Chris Rock Jokes About Watching Emancipation to See Will Smith Getting Whipped In Advance of Netflix Special: Report, Kellyanne Conway and George Conway to divorce. A change of plea hearing for Koch is scheduled for July 12. 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 company sold the body parts to treat burns, replace broken bones and provide for other medical needs, the indictment said. Several funeral home operators in New York have also pleaded Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much 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. Her defense attorney has requested a lighter sentence of two years. 2. Quick view $ 114.95 . One of the cadavers was that of Alistair Cooke, the host of Masterpiece Theater, who died in 2004 of cancer. South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh has been sentenced to life without parole in the fatal shootings of his wife, son. Generally, a broker can sell a donated human body for about $3,000 to $5,000, though prices sometime . The defendants typically made up names for the donors and also forged family consent forms, the indictment said. The black-market sales went on from at least February 2004 through September 2005, prosecutors said. In 2014, the FBI raided Gore's chop shop in Phoenix, and were . The family of actor Tom Sizemore is currently "deciding end of life matters" following an update from doctors, according to a statement receiv. 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. [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. 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. McCafferty, 38, received significantly less time compared to his co-conspirators - brothers . 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 . The Associated Press. They told the judge that while they were still emotionally reeling from the episode and wanted to learn more details about what occurred, they welcomed the news that Hess had decided to plead guilty. Hess initially called the whole affair a "legal travesty." Hess then "sold those remains to victims purchasing the remains for scientific, medical, or educational purposes," the release added. The three men also jointly own Liberty Cremation. "I've yet to be shown a single shred of evidence that he knew It was not immediately known if the three funeral directors had attorneys. He's not a flight risk," Kaufman said shortly after visiting his client last night. A former Colorado funeral home owner pleaded guilty to secretly . 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. because there are bodies in Pennsylvania," Peruto said. A former Colorado funeral home owner pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a federal charge of defrauding relatives of the dead by dissecting their family members' corpses and selling the body parts . Thank you for visiting McCafferty Funeral & Cremation Inc. website. parts, Peruto said. "They were motivated by greed.". Explore life stories, offer tributes & condolences, send flowers or create a lasting online memorial for loved ones. Mastromarino 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. She also offered free cremations in exchange for a body donation. In 2003, the grand jury noted, an employee at a tissue- processing company described Mastromarino as "one of the leading procurers in the country," who was providing "a phenomenal amount of stuff. and hepatitis when they had actually tested positive, according to the authorities. 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. (Reuters) - A second Colorado woman pleaded guilty on Tuesday to defrauding relatives of the dead as part of a scheme in which a funeral . Get ready!!!! to a former oral surgeon who allegedly collected the bones, tissue "There was no basis for us to take any action against James.". The Garzone brothers each own a funeral home and McCafferty was the director at a funeral home owned by his mother, the report said. We are available 24 hours a day, everyday of the year for emergency death care. Megan Hess, 46, was sentenced Tuesday at a hearing in Grand Junction, Colorado for dissecting 560 . The funeral-home directors and their partners, two men who bought the tissue for resale, then falsified paperwork to make the "donors" appear healthy, the report said. 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). donors had died of heart attacks or blunt-force trauma but were 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. PHILADELPHIA (AP) - April 4, 2008 guilty. The hoax revelation was first carried by the Ma The Garzone brothers surrendered their state funeral licenses last year but continued to run their two homes, Abraham said. IE 11 is not supported. All he was supposed to "One of the cutters said it was like the back of a butcher shop, it was so dirty," Abraham said. Indicted on similar counts were Brooklyn residents Mastromarino, 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. The company sold the parts to treat burns, replace broken bones and provide for other medical needs, the 111-page indictment said. otherwise healthy, prosecutors said. 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. 1748 W Erie Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19140. The company sold the parts to treat burns, replace broken bones The highest prices . While the mostly poor families thought their loved ones were The United States Attorney's Office for the District . During the hearing, the judge asked Hess to describe in her own words the crimes she committed. Those potentially dangerous body parts were sold and transplanted into thousands of patients. Two family members and one friend of deceased people whose body parts were sold without permission by Hess spoke at the hearing. By John Shiffman. According to NBC News, Hess and her mother now face 135 years in prison each. Legal Statement. 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 . Megan Hess, operator of Donor Services, in Montrose, Colo., pleaded guilty to mail fraud on Tuesday. The defendants typically made up names for the donors and forged family consent forms, the indictment said. One national law firm has clients who were patients at Temple, Hahnemann, Thomas Jefferson and Albert Einstein Hospitals in Philadelphia, Holy Redeemer Hospital in Montgomery County, and Shore Memorial Hospital and AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center in New Jersey. together ran Garzone Funeral Home. Prosecutors are calling for Hess, who had previously pleaded not guilty, to be sentenced to 12 to 15 years in 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.