Judge rejects plea deal for ex-funeral home operator Jon Hallford: ‘Violated every norm of civilized society’

EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. — In a rare move, an El Paso County judge on Friday rejected a plea agreement for Jon Hallford, who, with his wife, allegedly federal sentence of 20 years that he previously received.

Judge Eric Bentley, though, decided he “could not accept” the agreement after hearing from more than a dozen victims in court Friday calling for a harsher punishment.

“I was stunned by the articulate nature and the heartbreaking nature of what I heard this morning,” Bentley said. “It's hard to find words to describe the conduct of the defendant that violated every norm of a civilized society and victimized grieving people at their moment of greatest vulnerability, in a way that victims cannot readily recover from when trust is betrayed like that in that moment of vulnerability.”

• Denver7's Colette Bordelon has covered this case extensively and has the latest in the video player below:

Rejecting a plea agreement, Bentley said, is “reserved for the most extreme cases.” He said he has never granted a request to reject a plea during his nine years as a judge and over the course of hundreds of plea deals — but he was moved to do so in this case after he listened to victims who felt as though they were not heard in the plea deal process.

“I heard an overwhelming perception that the justice that had been worked out between the attorneys was justice that didn't accurately reflect the truth of the victim's experience,” Bentley said.

David Zalubowski/AP

The charges in changed her plea in the fraud case for a second time to guilty earlier this month and is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 3. Her sentencing in the state corpse abuse case has not been scheduled yet, as the intention is to work through the federal proceedings first.

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