COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — A judge on Friday rejected a plea agreement for a Colorado funeral home owner who acknowledged abusing 191 corpses, after family members described the pain and shame they’ve carried since learning their loved ones’ bodies were left to rot.

The judge rejected a 20-year sentence that would have been combined with a federal case. Prosecutors said that Jon Hallford, 45, and his wife cheated grieving families while living a lavish lifestyle.

The sentencing for Jon Hallford, the co-owner of Return to Nature Funeral Home where the bodies of nearly 200 people were discovered in various states of decomposition in October 2023, has been delayed because the judge rejected the plea agreement.