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.
“This is not an ordinary fraud case,” Judge Wang said from the bench.
Hallford addressed the court before sentencing, expressing regret.
“I am so deeply sorry for my actions,” he said. “I still hate myself for what I’ve done.”
“I started this business to help people. Then everything got completely out of control — especially me.”
Gruesome Discovery in Penrose
Between 2019 and 2023, Hallford and his wife Carie Hallford stored bodies inside a run-down, bug-infested building in Penrose, about two hours south of Denver. The remains were found stacked on top of each other, with some in various states of decay.
Families who believed their loved ones had been cremated later discovered the ashes they received were fake. In at least two documented cases, incorrect bodies were buried, court records revealed.
The horrifying revelations devastated families, many of whom said it unraveled their grieving process, caused mental health struggles, and raised painful questions about the fate of their loved ones.
Heartbreaking Testimony
One of the most emotional moments of Friday’s hearing came from Colton Sperry, a young boy who shared how the loss of his grandmother in 2019 — and the later discovery that her body had not been cremated — plunged him into a mental health crisis.
“If I die too, I could meet my grandma in heaven and talk to her again,” he recalled telling his parents.
Colton was taken to the hospital for psychiatric care and now receives therapy and emotional support.
“I miss my grandma so much,” he said tearfully in court.
Lavish Spending With Stolen Funds
Federal investigators say the Hallfords used funds from federal COVID-19 relief and customer payments to live lavishly, purchasing a GMC Yukon and Infiniti worth over $120,000, spending $31,000 in cryptocurrency, and indulging in luxury goods from Gucci and Tiffany & Co. — even undergoing laser body sculpting.
Victims expressed outrage over the contrast between the Hallfords’ indulgent lifestyle and the horrific conditions in which their loved ones’ bodies were left.
Derrick Johnson, who flew 3,000 miles to testify, said:
“My mother was thrown into a festering sea of death.”
“I lie awake wondering — was she naked? Was she stacked like lumber?”
“While the bodies rotted in secret, the Hallfords lived, laughed, and dined. My mom’s cremation money probably paid for a cocktail, a spa day, or a first-class flight.”
Building Conditions Were ‘Indescribable’
Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim Neff described the Penrose facility as a scene of unimaginable horror. He told the court that agents had to place wooden planks above pools of bodily fluids just to walk through the building.
“Some rooms were impassable due to the sheer number of decomposing bodies,” he said.
What’s Next for Carie Hallford?
Carie Hallford is also charged federally and at the state level. She is set to face trial in September for the federal charges, and has another court appearance that month for her 191 state counts of corpse abuse.
The case has sent shockwaves through Colorado and sparked calls for tighter regulation of the funeral industry. Meanwhile, families continue to pick up the pieces of their interrupted grief.
