Former funeral home operator gets 18 years for defrauding families, giving them fake ashes

DENVER (TCN) -- After pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, a woman has been sentenced to 18 years in federal prison.

The Associated Press reports Carie Hallford was sentenced March 16 for cheating customers out of $130,000 for funeral services and defrauding the government out of $900,000 in pandemic small business aid. In addition, she helped her husband, Jon Hallford, hide almost 200 decomposing bodies. 

In a press release from the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado, Peter Neilly said, “It takes an exceptionally sick person to even think of a fraud scheme like Jon and Carie Hallford’s, let alone carry it out. Their disregard for fundamental human dignity is almost beyond belief.”

In 2023, 190 bodies that had been entrusted to the Hallfords by grieving families were found decomposing and improperly stored in a bug- and maggot-infested building that was being used as a mortuary. In some cases, the bodies were stacked so high they blocked doorways, according to the AP.

The Hallfords offered green burials — burials without embalming — through their business, Return to Nature Funeral Home. People reports the bodies were discovered after police received a complaint of a foul odor coming from the building.

From 2019 to 2023, the Hallfords failed to properly bury or cremate the bodies, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. In some cases, they gave families urns with concrete mix inside instead of ashes, the AP reports. 

Hallford handled the financial side of the business, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. In that role, she conspired with husband to defraud the government out of $882,300 in COVID relief funds from 2020 to 2022. The AP reports that the couple spent the pandemic small business loan on new cars, designer items from Gucci and Tiffany & Co., laser body sculpting, and cryptocurrency. 

According to the U.S. attorney’s office, the Hallfords claimed bodies were either buried or cremated on death certificate paperwork when the bodies were actually left to decompose. 

According to the U.S. attorney’s office, FBI Denver Special Agent in Charge Amanda Koldjeski said, “The defendant defrauded grieving families she agreed to serve while deceiving the federal government in order to obtain benefits meant to assist businesses during the pandemic. She denied families well-deserved dignity and showed blatant disregard for government rules. She lied and exploited families and systems to enrich her lifestyle with absolutely zero regard for the great harm she caused to so many.”

In court, Hallford apologized and asked for leniency, saying she was abused and manipulated by her husband. The AP reports she said, “I was always trying to please a person who was impossible to please.”

Hallford and her husband pleaded guilty in December 2025 to about 200 counts in state court. They took plea deals that require both state and federal sentences to be served concurrently. In addition to the federal case, Hallford faces up to 25 years in prison when she is sentenced in state court in April. According to People, her state sentencing date is scheduled for April 24. 

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