The owners of a funeral home in Colorado, Jon Hallford and Carie Hallford, are facing additional charges in connection with allegations that they spent nearly $900,000 in COVID-19 relief funds on personal expenses. The couple, who were previously accused of improper storage of decaying bodies, now face charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, according to the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Colorado.

Jon Hallford, 44, and Carie Hallford, 47, are accused of using $882,300 in pandemic relief loans meant for supporting small businesses on items such as vacations, a vehicle, cosmetic medical procedures, jewelry, entertainment, dining, tuition, cryptocurrency, and merchandise from Amazon. The indictment alleges that the Hallfords prepared and submitted loan documentation containing false representations, starting from March 30, 2020, through October 20, 2021.

The couple is set to be arraigned on Thursday, and while Carie's attorney declined to comment, there was no immediate contact with an attorney representing Jon. The Hallfords, who were arrested in November 2023 in Oklahoma, also face felony charges related to abuse of a corpse, theft, money laundering, and forgery. These charges stem from the discovery of 190 decaying bodies found in improper storage at their Return to Nature Funeral Home in Penrose, Colo.

Residents in the area had reported an odor coming from the facility, leading to the investigation. Some of the bodies found in the facility had dates of death dating back to 2019. The Hallfords are also accused of collecting over $130,000 from families for cremation or burial services they never provided and filing false death certificates. The indictment alleges that they provided families with urns filled with dry concrete mix instead of the actual cremains of the deceased and even gave the wrong body for cemetery burial on multiple occasions.

Families who spoke with the Associated Press in October 2023 claimed that they did not receive proper identification tags with their loved ones' remains. They described the ashes as having a consistency similar to dry concrete, which solidified when mixed with water.

If convicted of the federal charges, the Hallfords each face up to 20 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000. In March, the United States Environmental Protection Agency announced that the funeral home is scheduled to be demolished on April 16 in order to safely remove all residual medical and biological materials found in the building.