Ex-Colorado funeral home owner gets 20 year sentence for selling body parts

Megan Hess and her mother Shirley Koch defrauded distraught families and dismembered bodies for illegal sale

A former Colorado funeral home owner was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison on Tuesday for defrauding relatives of the dead by dissecting 560 corpses and selling body parts without permission.

Megan Hess, 46, pleaded guilty to fraud in July. She operated a funeral home, Sunset Mesa, and a body parts entity, Donor Services, from the same building in Montrose, Colorado. The 20-year term was the maximum allowed under law.