NEWARK — A former funeral director in Newark, who is serving prison for his role in a scheme to sell stolen body parts, pleaded guilty today to a single count of practicing mortuary science without a license. Stephen Finley, 48, admitted in Superior Court that he made funeral arrangements for two undercover agents from the state Attorney General’s Office,...
Stephen Finley, 45, right, of Murray Hill, looks toward Essex County Assistant Prosecutor, Jane Plaisted, in this 2009 file photo.NEWARK — A former funeral director in Newark, who is serving prison for his role in a scheme to sell stolen body parts, pleaded guilty today to a single count of practicing mortuary science without a license.
Stephen Finley, 48, admitted in Superior Court that he made funeral arrangements for two undercover agents from the state Attorney General’s Office, who posed as clients on Jan. 15, 2009, just two weeks after his license had been revoked. Three other identical counts stemming from two subsequent dates were dismissed.
He is currently serving a five-year prison sentence in connection with a 2009 guilty plea to a single count of desecrating human remains. Prosecutors estimated he was responsible for allowing teams of "cutters" to remove parts from 40 bodies in his funeral home, without the permission of families, for what authorities said was a profit of $1,000 per corpse.
Under the terms of Finley’s guilty plea today, he will be sentenced to 18 months in prison. A June 16 sentencing date was set.
Because the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office appears to have done the bare minimum to track down the victims’ next of kin, many of those family members weren’t able to confront Finley at his sentencing on the previous charge in June 2009.
This time, they will get that chance. As part of his plea deal, family members will be allowed to speak directly to Finley about the effect that ghoulish crime had on them at his upcoming sentencing.
Previous coverage:
• Former Newark mortician sentenced to 5 years for stealing body parts
• N.J. officials shut down Newark mortician's businesses
• AG moves to shut down 2 Newark funeral homes
• Newark funeral director admits stealing human remains
• Families worry whether loved ones were victims of stolen body parts ring