COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The co-owners of the Return to Nature Funeral Home in Penrose are back in custody facing new felony wire fraud charges.
The federal indictment accuses Jon and Carie Hallford of fraudulently misrepresenting their funeral home business to receive a total of nearly $900,000 in COVID-19 federal relief funds under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act.
Court documents said the Hallfords made material misrepresentations on loan documentations regarding their eligibility to qualify for the funds. The indictment said instead of using the money solely for business expenses, the Hallfords used the bulk of the loan on things like a vehicle, multiple vacations, entertainment, dining, tuition for a minor child, cryptocurrency, cosmetic medical procedures, jewelry, various goods and merchandise from Amazon, and payments to other vendors unrelated to their business.
The federal indictment also accuses the couple of collecting $130,000 from victims families over a period of four years for cremation or burial services which were never provided. The document said the Hallfords attempted to conceal their fraudulent activity by allowing 190 bodies to decompose inside the Return to Nature Funeral Home in Penrose.
According to the federal court documents, the two face 13 federal charges for Wire Fraud and Aiding and Abetting and 2 federal charges for Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud.
The couple made their first appearances for the new charges in a federal courtroom in Denver on Monday afternoon. The Hallfords will remain in custody for at least three days until their next court appearance on Thursday, April 15 at 10 a.m. During that hearing, Judge Scott T. Varholak will hear arguments from attorneys and then decide whether or not to release the couple until trial.
Jon and Carie Hallford had previously bonded out of the El Paso County Jail after posting $100,000 each.
Crystina Page, whose son's body was identified inside the funeral home, said prosecutors told her there's a possibility the couple will be released again.
“The prosecutors did caution me that we need to be prepared for them to be released again on Thursday. So again, I'm optimistic. I really am hoping that they're detained, but it didn't seem like that was the probability to me," said Page.
You can read the federal indictment for yourself here.
The Hallfords also face 260 counts, including abuse of a corpse, money laundering, theft, and forgery, after investigators said 190 bodies were found left to rot inside their Penrose funeral home last October.
Background
KOAA News5 has a full timeline of the developing events of the Return to Nature Funeral Home investigation.