Your blue state Democrat ethics on display.
A couple accused of abandoning nearly 200 bodies at the Colorado funeral
home they owned allegedly used payments for cremations and burials for
vehicles, cryptocurrency, a $1,500 dinner in Las Vegas and other personal
items.
FBI Agent Andrew Cohen testified in front of a packed courtroom Thursday
that Jon and Carie Hallford bought a GMC Yukon and an Infiniti for more
than $120,000 with payments from families of the deceased, according to
The Associated Press. The money was reportedly enough to cover cremation
costs for two times the bodies found decomposing in their business'
storage facility in Penrose.
Adam Steigerwald, Jon's lawyer, argued that the prosecution has not proven
the money from their business account was spent to conceal the source of
the funds, meaning it does not fit the crime of money laundering. He also
said the couple used money from the federal Small Business Administration
to buy the Yukon.
Cohen said the money which they received as an adjustment to a pandemic-
era small business loan used to buy the Yukon was obtained fraudulently
after Jon lied and said he was not behind on child support payments.
COLORADO FUNERAL HOME OWNERS FACE CHARGES AFTER DISCOVERY OF 190
DECOMPOSING BODIES
The testimony about the couple's spending practices came during a hearing
where a judge decided prosecutors presented enough evidence to show Jon
should stand trial. It was previously decided Carie will also stand trial.
Both Jon and Carie were arrested in Oklahoma in November after each being
charged with 190 counts of abuse of a corpse, five counts of theft, four
counts of money laundering and over 50 counts of forgery. Neither one of
them has entered a plea yet.
COLORADO FUNERAL HOME OWNER WHO ALLEGEDLY LEFT ALMOST 200 BODIES TO ROT
WILL APPEAR IN COURT
During an earlier hearing for Carie, text messages were presented by
prosecutors that suggested the Hallfords tried to cover up their financial
struggles by leaving the bodies at the Penrose facility.
Cohen testified that the storage facility had makeshift refrigeration
units that were not in use when the decaying bodies were discovered inside
the maggot-infested building.
According to prosecutors, Jon was concerned about getting caught as far
back as 2020 and suggested they dump the bodies in a big hole before
treating them with lye or setting them on fire.
"My one and only focus is keeping us out of jail," he wrote in one text
message, prosecutors alleged.
Jon is out of jail after posting a $100,000 bond in late January while
Carie remains in jail on the same amount.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/colorado-funeral-home-owners-abandoned-bodies-
spent-cremation-burial-money-vehicles-1500-dinner