Pittsburgh-area funeral director Patrick Vereb taken into custody after pleading guilty to pet cremation fraud

Patrick Vereb, the Pittsburgh-area funeral home director charged with pet cremation fraud, has been taken into custody after he pleaded guilty to 10 felony counts he was facing. 

Vereb, 72, appeared at the Allegheny County Courthouse on Thursday, submitting a guilty plea after being accused of defrauding thousands of pet owners over several years while operating funeral homes in Hazelwood and Harrison Township. 

After pleading guilty in court, Vereb's bond was revoked when the judge learned he no longer lives in Allegheny County. He was led from the courtroom in handcuffs and will be held in custody until his sentencing takes place in January.

A whistleblower alleged in 2025 that Vereb took payments to give people's pets dignified burials or cremations, but then would dump the bodies and give back ashes belonging to something else.  

According to investigators, Vereb promised nearly 6,500 pets a proper burial, but the bodies were dumped in landfills or left in leaking garbage bags. 

Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday, whose office led the prosecution in the case, said last week that he was "very happy" that Vereb chose to plead guilty. 

"It puts the victims and the prosecution in a position where we get to walk into that sentencing and make all of our arguments for the sentence we want to see in this case," Sunday said. 

The attorney general's office previously said that Vereb's sentence could range from house arrest up to more than a year in jail. Vereb could also be looking at upwards of $600,000 in restitution to be paid back to the victims.  

The date for Vereb's sentencing has been set for Jan. 21.