An El Paso County judge is expected to decide Monday whether to accept new negotiations that would extend the prison sentence for Jon and Carie Hallford, coming on the heels of the court rejecting the original plea agreements for the owners of the Return to Nature Funeral Home.

The new agreements would see the Hallfords plead guilty to 191 counts of abuse of a corpse.

What has happened so far

Judge Eric Bentley separately rejected both of their prior plea agreements this year.

During Jon Hallford’s state sentencing in August, Bentley heard objections from victims to the stipulated sentence, which was initially set at 20 years behind bars to run concurrently, or at the same time, with the federal sentence. Bentley rejected the agreement, setting Jon Hallford up for a 2026 trial after a second agreement was also rejected.

Jon Hallford was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison in July on wire fraud charges, but has since appealed the sentence, according to past Gazette coverage.

In November, victims spoke up again, with more than a dozen taking the stand to address Bentley. Carie Hallford’s rejected plea agreement initially stipulated a 15- to 20-year sentence in the Department of Corrections to run concurrently to her federal sentence.

Carie Hallford has yet to be sentenced on the federal level, with her hearing set for March 2026. She is expected to receive 15 years in federal prison.

A second chance at negotiations

Now, it appears a new deal is on the table in state court, but it still could be rejected by Bentley, setting the pair up for separate jury trials in 2026.

The agreement, filed in the 4th Judicial District, would see the Hallfords sentenced to decades in prison after the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office found 189 improperly stored decomposing bodies in October 2023 at the funeral home’s Penrose facility, about 35 miles southwest of Colorado Springs.

If accepted, the plea agreements would give Jon Hallford a 30- to 50-year prison sentence and Carie Hallford a 25- to 35-year sentence. The sentence would run concurrently to the federal sentences.

Victim outcry

Victims’ family members met with prosecutors Tuesday morning to discuss three options during mediation and then, over seven hours later, were given less than 15 minutes’ notice of an appearance for the Hallfords to enter their pleas, according to previous Gazette coverage.

“Truthfully, this feels like a big charade,” said Derrick Johnson, whose mother was identified in the funeral home. “I’m not sure what it is that they’re doing with this. We’ve already done this. We went down this road before.”

If the agreements are accepted, sentencing for Jon and Carie Hallford will be held in February and April, respectively, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

Victims in the case have long called for a jury trial, saying they want to see all of the evidence. Several of the affected families told The Gazette on Tuesday that they want the judge to reject the deals, and instead, they should serve one year for each body that was found and one day for each of the “unknowns.”

“This is not justice,” Johnson said. “What they presented is an insult, it’s a letdown and it’s a rude awakening to what we can tell. They don’t want the trial, they just want this to be over.”

Prior to 2020, abuse of a corpse was a class two misdemeanor, and carried a possible jail term of three months to a year. House Bill 20-1148 altered how the crime is classified, changing it to a level 6 felony with a sentencing guideline of one year to 18 months, and although not likely in the Hallfords’ case, probation is an option for some level 6 felony offenders.

“We’re staying under the maximum of 18 months per body, and we’re making that acknowledgment that those people mattered and they still matter today,” said Crystina Page, whose son was found in the funeral home. “I want trial. I’d much rather have trial than them serve a life sentence.”

Monday is a chance for the victims to speak up again in opposition to the new agreements and to ask the judge for another rejection.

“With each proposal that they made none of them would spend any one day in state prison,” Angelika Stedman, whose daughter was allegedly cremated at the funeral home, told The Gazette. “The only thing that would pay for, in my mind, is for the federal charges, which is a money issue, not about the bodies of our loved ones.”

The trials for Jon and Carie Hallford are scheduled to begin in February and October, respectively. Prosecutors said they were likely to call to the stand nearly 200 family members whose relatives’ remains were discovered, to testify to the state of the bodies when handed over, and communication between them and the Hallfords.

“I will reserve (myself) for the integrity of this case, but if there ain’t no case, there don’t need to be any dignity,” Page said.

The Gazette reached out to the 4th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, asking how long negotiations for the new agreement have been in the works and whether this is the “final” agreement that will be offered to the Hallfords.

Carie filed for divorce from Jon in August.