Court records indicate that an Indiana funeral director plead guilty to dozens counts of felony theft following the discovery of 31 decomposing bodies at his funeral home last year .
The Associated Press reported that Randy Lankford will pay $46,000 to 53 families as restitution and face a proposed 12-year sentence — four years behind bars and eight years at home.
Court records from Clark County indicate that Lankford has pleaded guilty on 43 counts of theft, where the value is between $750 to $50,000. According to court records, he was charged with 86 theft counts and one corrupt business influence count.
According to the AP, the theft charge stemmed from the fact that he failed to provide the funeral services he had been paid for.
According to records, Lankford is expected to remain in home confinement until the 23rd of June when a sentence hearing will be held.
He is still facing multiple lawsuits by people whose loved one was among the cremains or bodies found in his funeral home in July.
According to an Indiana Attorney General petition seeking to suspend Lankford’s license, police in Jeffersonville discovered the “conditions” after the local coroner notified the department on July 1 of the “conditions”.
According to the petition, authorities found that three out of four air conditioners in the facility were not working. The petition claims that bodies in body bags had been stored in various rooms and some of them for “an extended” period.
According to the Attorney General’s Office, bodies were at various stages of decomposition.
A couple filed a civil lawsuit last week alleging that Lankford had sent them a box of plastic last June, purporting to hold the remains of their daughter.
Later, the couple learned that their daughter had not been cremated — her body was found among decomposing remains at Lankford’s business.
Lankford is accused of negligence, infliction on emotional distress with intent and breach of contract.
The message that was left at the number for Lankford Friday night did not get returned immediately. Lankford’s lawyer didn’t immediately respond to an inquiry for comment.
