In Colorado, the owner of the funeral home sold the organs of the deceased, and gave the fake remains to relatives

Funeral home owner in Colorado who was accused of selling body parts and giving fake ashes to clients has been sentenced to 20 years in prison. CBS.

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Federal prosecutors said Megan Hess received the maximum sentence after she pleaded guilty in November to fraud under a plea agreement in which other charges against her were dropped.

US authorities statedthat in dozens of cases, Hess and her mother, Shirley Koch, who also pleaded guilty to fraud, turned over bodies or body parts to third parties for examination without the knowledge of the families.

U.S. District Judge Christine Argüello in Grand Junction also sentenced Koch to 3 years in prison on January 15. Argüello sentenced the women after the victims testified about the pain they experienced as part of the criminal scheme.

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Hess, 48, and Koch, 69, ran Sunset Mesa Funeral Home in the western city of Montrose. They were arrested in 2020 and charged with six counts of mail fraud and three counts of illegal transportation of hazardous materials.

The grand jury indictment says that from 2010 to 2018, Hess and Koch offered to cremate bodies and give the remains to families for $1000 or more, but many cremations never happened.

Authorities said that in 2009, Hess created a non-profit organization called the Sunset Mesa Funeral Foundation as a brokerage service that handled the donor business.

Under the auspices of the Sunset Mesa Funeral Home, the defendants frequently met with victims who were seeking cremation services for themselves or their deceased loved ones. During these meetings, the defendants told the victims that Sunset Mesa funeral homes cremate the dead and return their cremated remains to their families. Instead, the defendants collected body parts or whole bodies of the deceased for sale through a brokerage company.

In the few cases where families have agreed to donate small tissue samples, tumors, or skin patches, Hess and Koch have sold far more remains of these deceased than were allowed by the family. They also delivered the remains to the families, claiming that they were the remains of the deceased, although this was often not the case.

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According to the US Department of Justice, Hess and Koch donated bodies or body parts to third parties for research dozens of times without the knowledge of the families. The donation was made through the Sunset Mesa Funeral Foundation and donor service, and families were given ashes that did not belong to their loved ones, authorities said.

Hess and Koch also sold bodies and body parts that tested positive or belonged to people who died from infectious diseases, including HIV and hepatitis B and C, despite reassuring buyers that the remains were not contaminated, as authorities said.

Hess' lawyer Ashley Petrie told the court on Jan. 3 that Hess was motivated by a desire to advance medical research.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim Neff ridiculed the argument. “Eight years of this kind of repeated behavior is all the court needs to know about her history and character,” Neff said.

“These two women preyed on vulnerable victims who came to them in a moment of grief and sadness. But instead of offering help, these greedy women betrayed the trust of hundreds of victims and maimed their loved ones,” said FBI Denver Acting Special Agent in Charge Leonard Carollo. “Without the knowledge or consent of relatives, the women disrespected the wishes of the grieving victims and degraded the bodies of their family members in order to sell them for profit. These two criminals continued their atrocities for many years, showing no remorse or remorse even after they were exposed. "Nothing can guarantee the victims any comfort or redress for the damage caused, but perhaps this sentence can bring an end to a terrible chapter of their lives."

“We hope today’s sentencing brings a sense of justice to the families and loved ones of the victims of this heartless scheme,” said Special Agent Cissy Tubbs.

This case was complex and required a detailed forensic analysis of the evidence.

Koch said during the sentencing hearing: “I plead guilty and take responsibility for my actions. I am very sorry for the harm I have caused you and your families." Hess refused to go to court.

CBS Colorado previously reported that state regulators have received complaints about wrongdoing at the facility, but state law does not allow them to enter a funeral home unless there are criminal charges.

Representatives Matt Soper and Dylan Roberts said they plan to change that.

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"One thing I've heard over and over again from affected families is that it was like reliving the death of a loved one a second time," Soper said. He said that Colorado funeral homes are the least regulated in the country.

“You can’t believe that body trading, selling body parts, shredding body parts is what’s happening in the United States of America,” Soper said.

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