Carie Hallford, co-owner of Return to Nature Funeral Home, released from custody in Colorado
One of the co-owners of the Return to Nature Funeral Home that was demolished last week was released from custody on Thursday. Carie Hallford appeared in court where a judge permitted home detention with an ankle monitor.
Carie Hallford is currently living at a hotel in Colorado Springs because no halfway house has accepted her. She remains under a $10,000 federal bond.
It was last fall when 190 improperly stored bodies were discovered in various states of decomposition at the Return to Nature Funeral Home in Penrose.
Earlier this month, Carie Hallford and her husband Jon Hallford were arrested by the FBI and indicted by the federal government for allegedly defrauding customers and the government.
In the latest indictment, the Hallfords are facing 13 counts of wire fraud and aiding and abetting and two additional counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. If convicted, they could face up to 20 years in federal prison, up to a $250,000 fine -- or a combination of the two -- up to 3 years of supervised release and they could be ordered to pay restitution.
Among the allegations are that they defrauded the government to obtain SBA loans during the pandemic by defrauding the Paycheck Protection Program, which is part of The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, obtaining $882,300.
The Hallfords are also facing hundreds of charges in connection to the Return to Nature Funeral Home including abuse of a corpse, forgery and money laundering. The investigation into the funeral home began in early October 2023 when neighbors reported a foul smell to law enforcement.
All decedents were removed from the funeral home on Oct. 13, 2023 and transported to the El Paso County Coroner's Office. In February, Gov. Jared Polis issued a second Executive Order to provide an additional $220,000 for DNA testing related to the funeral home investigation. Fremont County Coroner Randy Keller told CBS News Colorado that 17 bodies have yet to be identified.
The couple was initially arrested in Oklahoma in November 2023.
