A New York funeral parlor of horrors named “Camelot” buried grieving households in huge payments whereas their family members’ decomposing our bodies piled up in a storage like packages in a warehouse, officers alleged.
Michael Naughton, 55, of Lengthy Island was working the funeral house in Mount Vernon in Westchester County regardless of his license being revoked seven years in the past — defrauding dozens of New Yorkers who trusted him to correctly handle their family members as they mourned, prosecutors with state Legal professional Basic Letitia James’ workplace mentioned in a.20-count indictment unsealed Thursday.
“Planning a beloved one’s funeral could be among the many most troublesome and susceptible occasions in an individual’s life. Naughton heartlessly took benefit of New Yorkers whereas knowingly working his funeral house with out a license and didn’t take correct care of the stays in his possession,” James mentioned in a press release.
A shock January inspection by the New York Division of Well being found 13 lifeless our bodies in “varied states of decomposition thrown all through the constructing — some even stacked on high of each other like packages at a warehouse — together with 17 packing containers of cremated stays, the AG mentioned.
State Well being Commissioner Dr. James McDonald then issued an emergency order shutting Camelot down after the inspection, directing Naughton at hand over all information and cooperate with authorities.
“The violations and alleged crimes uncovered at Camelot Funeral Residence reveal why solely licensed funeral administrators must be entrusted with the care of human stays,” McDonald mentioned.
Naughton, who lives on Lengthy Island in Baldwin, negotiated costs, signed contracts, organized transport of the lifeless, presided over providers and oversaw the disposition of stays — none of which he was legally allowed to do, in accordance with the indictment unsealed in Westchester County Courtroom.
The AG’s investigation discovered Naughton had been working the scheme from a minimum of Might 2025 by way of this previous January, bilking dozens of grieving households out of 1000’s of {dollars}.
He’s additionally charged with forging a Burial Transit Allow — the doc required to legally transfer a physique to its place of burial or disposition.
“It is a deeply disturbing and heartbreaking state of affairs that has prompted unimaginable ache for numerous households,” Mount Vernon Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard mentioned.
“At a time when households have been most susceptible, they have been taken benefit of in probably the most egregious method. My coronary heart is with each household impacted by this betrayal,” the mayor added.
The 20-count indictment consists of 9 misdemeanor counts of unlicensed training as a funeral director, and 11 complete felony fees — with 9 grand larceny or tried grand larceny counts and one cost for scheming to defraud, together with another for felony possession of a solid instrument for the burial transmit allow.
If convicted on the highest depend, Naughton faces as much as seven years in jail.
