The FBI, during an investigation dubbed “Operation Morbid Market,” tracked hundreds of bodies and body parts sold by the mother and daughter to places as far away as Saudi Arabia.
Arguello, who at one point Tuesday told of her own grief after losing her husband of 45 years, eschewed advisory guidelines for both defendants, saying the scope of this “heinous offense” put her in “uncharted waters.”
Dozens of those families detailed their unfathomable anguish Tuesday before the court. “When Megan stole my mom’s heart,” Nancy Overhoff said, “she broke mine.”Hess and Koch, charging each with six counts of mail fraud and three counts of illegal transportation of hazardous materials. “I acknowledge my guilt and take responsibility for my actions,” she said. “I’m very sorry for the harm I caused you and your families.”Danielle McCarthy lost her husband, David, on Father’s Day in 2017. Several months after the FBI’s raid at Sunset Mesa, an agent called to tell her David’s cremated remains were not in the box she had been given. He had been sold and shipped to Detroit — in pieces.Hess and Koch eachearlier this year to one count of mail fraud.
FBI agent John Busch testified during Tuesday’s hearing that Hess ripped off logos and slogans from an organ and tissue company — Denver-based Donor Alliance Inc. — to falsely market to families that they could donate organs to help the blind see or the immobile walk through a new spine.
“Ms. Hess has been figuratively tarred and feathered by the local community as much as one can in the 21st century,” her attorney wrote in the filing, urging the judge to consider a lighter sentence.
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