Second Montrose Woman Pleads Guilty in Mail Fraud Case

Grand Junction-The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announces Shirley Koch, age 69, of Montrose, Colorado, pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud and aiding and abetting.

According to the plea agreement, the defendant was involved in meeting with families as a representative of Sunset Mesa Funeral Home to discuss the disposition of deceased individuals, and processing and preparing bodies for body broker services.  Beginning in 2010, and continuing into 2018, Koch took part in a scheme to illegally sell body parts or entire bodies without the consent of the family of the deceased.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Gordon P. Gallagher presided over the change of plea hearing on July 12, 2022. Sentencing will take place at a later date.

This case was investigated by the FBI Denver Division and the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Jeremy Chaffin and Tim Neff.

Due to public interest in this case, a copy of the plea agreement will be posted to the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office once the agreement is publicly available.

Case Number: 20-cr-00098