A former funeral home owner in Colorado was sentenced to 20 years in prison for defrauding relatives of the deceased by selling body parts of 560 deceased without a license.

Megan Hess, 46, pleaded guilty to fraud in July. He ran the Sunset Mesa funeral home and organ donation company Donor Services in the same building in Montrose, Colorado. The 20-year term was the maximum allowed by law.

Her mother Shirley Koch, 69, also pleaded guilty to fraud and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Court records show that Koch’s main role was the dismemberment of bodies.

“Hess and Koch used their funeral home from time to time, essentially to steal corpses and body parts, using fake and fake donor forms,” ​​district attorney Tim Neff said. “The behavior of Hess and Koch caused great emotional pain to families and relatives.”

The federal case was sparked by a series of 2016–2018 Reuters investigations into the sale of body parts in the United States, a largely unregulated industry. Former employees told Reuters that Hess and Koch carried out unauthorized dismemberments, and weeks after the report was released in 2018, the FBI raided the business.

In their filings, prosecutors highlighted the “dark nature” of the Hess scheme and described it as one of the most significant connected cases in recent U.S. history.

“This is the most emotionally draining case I have ever faced in court,” said U.S. District Judge Christine Argüello. “The Court is concerned that the defendant Hess refuses to take any responsibility for her conduct.”

The judge ordered Hess and Koch to be sent to prison immediately.

Hess’ lawyer said she was wrongly accused of being a “witch”, “monster” and “demon” when instead she is a “traumatized person” whose behavior can be explained by a brain injury at the age of 18.

Hess refused to speak to the judge, while Koch said she was sorry and took responsibility for her actions.

Twenty-six victims described their horror when they learned what happened to their loved ones.

“They dismembered our sweet mother,” Erin Smith said as the attackers sold her shoulders, knees and legs for profit. “We don’t even have words for such a heinous crime.”

Tina Shannon, whose mother was dismembered against her will, told the court: “I put on a lot of masks to hide the pain. I will never get better.”

In the United States, it is illegal to sell organs such as the heart, kidneys, and tendons for transplant, as they are only allowed as donors. But selling body parts like heads, arms and spines — which Hess did — for use in research or education is not regulated by federal law.

According to prosecutors, Hess committed a crime when she deceived the relatives of the deceased by lying about the cremation and autopsy and selling them without a license. Surgeon training companies and other companies that bought the arms, legs, heads and torso from Hess did not know they were fraudulently obtained, prosecutors said.

At her funeral home, Hess charged families up to $1,000 for cremations that never took place and offered free cremations to others in exchange for organ donations, prosecutors said.

The prosecutor’s office even noted that he lied to more than 200 families who received the ashes of their loved ones, mixed with the remains of various people.

Source: Guardian