Ex-Funeral Home Owner in Shocking ‘Fake Ashes’ Scandal Now Begs for Lighter Sentence

A former funeral home owner, Carrie Hallford, helped her ex-husband pull off a scam by giving people fake ashes and taking money in exchange. Hallford helped hide nearly 200 decomposing bodies in a building and took around $130,000 from customers. The accused has asked for a lighter sentence, stating that she was manipulated into the situation.

Carrie Hallford, helped her ex-husband hide nearly 200 bodies in a building. Hallford, who was arrested in 2024, faces up to 20 years in prison. She has asked for a lighter sentence, stating that she was manipulated into keeping the family business running. Investigators in two cases found the wrong body had been buried.

Hallford, 48, along with her ex-husband, used to scam people by taking money for funeral services, including cremation. Hallford and her husband took $130,000 from customers for cremation and other funeral services and gave families concrete-mixed urns in Colorado.

In August 2025, Hallford pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and admitted that, along with her ex-husband, John Hallford, she cheated customers and defrauded the federal government of nearly $900,000 in pandemic small business aid.

Hallford decided to get a divorce after she was returned to prison in November 2024 in her home state. According to court filings by her lawyer, being imprisoned and separated from her husband helped lift a 'fog' caused by years of abuse.

Since Hallford did not have a criminal history, federal sentencing guidelines recommended prison time up to eight years.

Lawyers from the government, however, are asking U.S. District Judge Nina Y. Wang to sentence Hallford to up to 15 years in prison, in part for taking advantage of grieving families following one of the largest discoveries of decaying bodies at a funeral home in the United States.

It was reported that, in some cases, bodies were stacked so high they blocked doorways. Bugs and maggots were present, and buckets had been placed to catch leaking fluids. The prosecution also sought a longer sentence because the former couple offered grand burials without accountability. They lavishly spent a pandemic-era small business loan on vehicles, cryptocurrency, expensive goods from luxury stores like Gucci and Tiffany, and laser body sculpting, rather than returning funds to the Nature Funeral Home in Colorado Springs.

Hallford is asking to be sentenced to eight years. In court documents, her lawyer wrote that Hallford’s actions were driven by “fear and severe anxiety.” Her lawyer also said Hallford’s former husband used “classic instruments of domestic violence” to control her, including threats to kill himself and her.

The lawyer who represented Hallford’s former husband in court declined to comment on the abuse allegations.