A Uniontown funeral director accused last year of stealing more than a half-million dollars from clients who pre-paid for funerals now faces more charges after authorities found boxes of cremated remains in a storage unit.
Stephen Kezmarsky III, 51, of Kezmarsky Funeral Home was arrested Thursday morning and charged with 21 counts of abuse of a corpse and other offenses, according to court records.
The Fayette County District Attorney’s Office said boxes of cremated remains, some labeled and others unlabeled, were recently discovered in the storage unit along with records from the funeral home, Post-Gazette news partner KDKA-TV reported.
“A large Tupperware box of cremated remains contained seven remains that contained names and 14 cremated remains with no labels, no names, no identification whatsoever, no paperwork related to the identity of the deceased individuals,” said District Attorney Richard Bower.
In one case, Mr. Bower said remains were being kept in a Dollar General box.
The district attorney held a news conference Thursday to discuss the charges:
Last year, Kezmarsky was charged with more than 170 felony and misdemeanor counts of theft and forgery after, prosecutors said, he stole $528,770 from 82 elderly people who pre-paid for funerals. Investigators believe he collected advance payments for funerals and instead of escrowing the funds as required by state law, he “comingled the funds with his business and personal accounts and stole his clients’ money,” the state Attorney General’s Office said.
Investigators said those alleged crimes occurred between October 2010 and March 2017.
Kezmarsky was arraigned on the new charges Thursday and was being held at the Fayette County jail on $500,000 bond. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.
First Published: June 27, 2019, 5:15 p.m.
Updated: June 27, 2019, 5:15 p.m.
