Colorado funeral home owner sentenced in body sales case

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (AP) — A Colorado funeral home operator accused of illegally selling body parts and giving clients fake ashes has been sentenced to 20 years in prison. Megan Hess received the maximum sentence Tuesday after pleading guilty to mail fraud in federal court in July, The Daily Sentinel reports. U.S. authorities say that on dozens of occasions Hess and her mother, Shirley Koch, transferred bodies or body parts to third parties for research without families’ knowledge. Koch was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years in prison. Hess and Koch were charged in 2020 with mail fraud and illegal transportation of hazardous materials. The women operated the Sunset Mesa Funeral Home and a body-broker service called Donor Services in Montrose, Colorado.