NewsBreak Original

A judge ordered two women who formerly ran a funeral home and organ donor service to pay a hefty restitution to the victims, who paid for cremation services, only to discover their loved ones’ remains had been sold in a body-brokering scam, according to a report by the Montrose Daily Press.

A mother-daughter team who previously ran a funeral home and organ donor service convicted of mail fraud plan to appeal their sentences imposed on them at the start of January 2023, according to the Montrose Daily Press.

Funeral home directors Megan Hess and her mother, Shirley Koch, were both sentenced on Jan. 3, 2023 after the pair pleaded guilty to mail fraud back in November, according to a CBS report.

Megan Hess stares down a potential 15.6 year sentence and the loss of all of her assets as consequence for what prosecutors call a “macabre” and “callous” case, according to a report from the Montrose Daily Press.

For a second time, Megan Hess’ defense team saw their motion to delay their client’s sentence hearing denied, the Montrose Daily Press reports. Hess, the 45-year-old former funeral home owner charged with mail fraud, stands accused alongside her mother, 68-year-old Shirley Koch, of selling body parts or entire bodies without consent of the families, and replacing the cremated remains with those of other deceased people or random debris, according to the 2020 indictment.

The request to delay former funeral director Megan Hess’ sentencing date has been denied, according to a report by KKCO. Her defense asked a federal judge on Nov. 11, 2022 to delay the sentence date for Hess, claiming they had “extensive materials” to prepare in regards to calculating the loss, restitution, relevant conduct, and mitigation, and said one of Hess’ attorneys is also on maternity leave, the Montrose Daily Press reported earlier this week.

A former Montrose funeral home owner who pleaded guilty to mail fraud earlier this year has requested her sentencing date be delayed by 90-120 days; a date originally set for Jan. 3, 2023, according to a report by the Montrose Daily Press.

The mother who assisted her daughter in running a funeral home that illegally brokered body parts and scammed customers has had her sentence hearing stayed, reports the Montrose Press.

A mother and daughter duo who are accused of brokering body parts and scamming clients while operating a Montrose funeral home have had their sentencing dates pushed back, according to a report from the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel.

After her daughter pleaded guilty last week to mail fraud, 69-year-old Shirley Koch did the same in court on Tuesday, according to a Daily Sentinel report. Shirley Koch, left, and her attorneyChristopher Tomlinson, The Daily Sentinel.

A Montrose funeral home owner has pleaded guilty to mail fraud this week following allegations that she illegally sold body parts and scammed clients, the Daily Sentinel reports.