US officials have indicated that Colorado funeral director, Megan Hess, has pleaded guilty to running a complex fraud devised and executed to steal the bodies or body parts of hundreds of victims from 2010 to 2018.

In addition, eight criminal charges against the accused were dropped as part of a plea deal.

The US Justice Department outlined in a statement that both Hess and her mother Shirley Koch were first arrested for illegally selling body parts or entire bodies without the consent of the family of the deceased.

The statement also indicated that both Hess and Koch’s mail scheme included shipping bodies and body parts that tested positive for, or belonging to people who had died from, infectious diseases, including Hepatitis B and C, and HIV, after certifying to buyers that the remains were disease-free.

The elaborate scheme also included forged paperwork and misleading buyers about the results of medical tests performed on the bodies.

The duo also concocted a scheme to lie to grieving families about the status of their loved one’s bodies or flat out ignored their wishes.

“Hess, and at times Koch, would meet with families seeking cremation services, and would offer to cremate the decedents’ bodies and provide the remains back to the families,” the DOJ added, stating that the funeral home “would charge $1,000 or more for cremations, but many never occurred,” the statement outlined.

“Hess and Koch also delivered remains to families with the representation that the remains were that of the deceased when, frequently, that was not the case,” it added.

As it now stands, Hess is scheduled to be sentenced in January while Koch who initially pleaded not guilty, is scheduled for July 12.