Funeral home owner sentenced to 20 years imprisonment over illegal selling of body parts

A Colorado funeral home owner, Megan Hess accused of illegally selling body parts and giving clients fake ashes was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Tuesday by an American federal court judge.

Hess received the maximum sentence after pleading guilty to mail fraud in November under a plea agreement in which other charges against her were dropped, federal prosecutors said.

According to U.S. authorities, on dozens of occasions, Hess and her mother, Shirley Koch, who also pleaded guilty to mail fraud, transferred bodies or body parts to third parties for research without families’ knowledge.