DENVER — A Colorado funeral home owner who hid nearly 190 decomposing bodies in a crumbling facility and handed grieving families fake ashes was sentenced Friday to 20 years in federal prison — the maximum allowed — for defrauding clients and stealing nearly $900,000 in COVID-19 relief funds.
Jon Hallford, who operated Return to Nature Funeral Home, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in federal court last year. Separately, he has admitted guilt to 191 counts of abuse of a corpse in state court, with sentencing for those charges set for August.
At the sentencing hearing, prosecutors requested 15 years behind bars while Hallford’s defense asked for 10. But U.S. District Judge Nina Wang said the magnitude of Hallford’s crimes and the emotional devastation inflicted on hundreds of families demanded the harshest punishment…