Carie Hallford, co-owner of the Return to Nature funeral home in Colorado Springs, pleaded guilty in August to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, according to court documents. Prosecutors are asking U.S. District Judge Nina Y. Wang to sentence her to 15 years in prison, while Hallford is requesting an eight-year term. She faces a maximum of 20 years for defrauding families of over $130,000 for funeral services, including cremations, and often providing them with urns full of concrete mix instead of ashes, according to court documents.
The case came to light in 2023 when nearly 200 decomposing bodies were discovered at the funeral home. Investigators found bodies stacked so high in some areas that they blocked doorways, with bugs, maggots, and buckets placed to catch leaking fluids. In two instances, the wrong body was buried, according to court documents. The scale of the fraud and the grisly conditions have shocked the community.
The fog in her mind from the years of abuse lifted after she was put back in jail in November 2024.
Hallford also admitted to defrauding the federal government of nearly $900,000 in pandemic small business aid from the Small Business Administration, according to court documents. She and her ex-husband Jon Hallford used the funds for personal expenses, including vehicles, cryptocurrency, luxury goods from stores like Gucci and Tiffany & Co., and laser body sculpting, according to court documents.
Federal sentencing guidelines recommend up to eight years in prison since Hallford had no prior criminal history. Her defense attorney, Robert Charles Melihercik, argued that she was a 'scared and desperate mother' manipulated by her husband to keep the business running. He said the 'fog in her mind from the years of abuse lifted' after she was put back in jail in November 2024. Melihercik stated that Hallford's actions were motivated by 'fear and severe anxiety' and that Jon Hallford used 'classic instruments of domestic violence' to control her, including threats of suicide and homicide. According to The Independent - Main, victim's family member Emma Williams said Hallford 'had a choice.'
Carie Hallford's actions were motivated by 'fear and severe anxiety' and her former husband used 'classic instruments of domestic violence' to control her, including threatening at times to kill himself and her.
Hallford decided to get a divorce after being re-incarcerated in November 2024, according to court documents. It remains unclear what sentence Judge Wang will impose, and whether Jon Hallford will face similar charges. The total number of victims affected by the Hallfords' actions has not been confirmed, nor has the full extent of the pandemic loan fraud spending.
She had a choice.