Mike Leavitt, owner of Leavitt's Mortuary and Aultorest Memorial Park in Ogden, Utah, did not disclose how much he paid for the Perl group. Shortly after David Kern was indicted in 2000, a Utah company purchased the Kern family's funeral homes in Medford, which includes Perl Funeral Home and Siskiyou Memorial Park. Your family's a victim of this, too, White told David Kern.Ĭharles Kern could not be reached for comment. The Kern family pledged a condominium in Hawaii, a home in Apple Valley, Calif., and benefits from Charles Kern's life insurance policies. Kern's millionaire father, Charles Kern, a mortician from Southern California, had offered his personal fortune in a federal hearing to repay the trust accounts if selling the family's Oregon funeral homes didn't generate enough money. In 1997, Kern had purchased Hull & Hull Funeral Homes in Grants Pass with &ģ6 1.3 million that he had taken from the corporation's trust accounts. The plan called for the sale of Kern's Medford and Grants Pass properties. In 1999, a federal bankruptcy judge endorsed a Chapter 11 reorganization plan for Kern Family Services Inc. Although there's no replacement fund containing &ģ6 5.4 million, the Kern family has promised to fulfill their obligations, he said. It's important that this delicate trust between the funeral home industry and the public is held as dear as possible, Bassett-Pohl said.Įveryone who pre-paid for funeral services with Kern should receive them, said David Koach, executive director of the Oregon Mortuary and Cemetery Board. With the trust funds depleted, about 4,500 clients initially were left wondering whether their burial arrangements would be honored, Eglitis said. But Andrejs Eglitis, the state's assistant attorney general, argued for prison time in light of the amount of money stolen and the number of victims involved, he said. White could have ordered Kern to serve five years of probation instead of prison time under the plea agreement. Although Kern asked White to delay his sentence until after the holidays so he could spend time with his two children, White ordered him to report to jail on Monday. Kern has been free on his own recognizance since he was indicted in September 2000. Moreover, Kern is mentally impaired, Caplan said, adding that Kern has been diagnosed with adult attention deficit disorder. Kern's attorney, Carl Caplan, argued that his client never intended to steal the money, assuming that his business would honor contracts with clients who had paid for funeral arrangements in advance. Kern, who apologized in court for his actions, could not be reached for comment. Kern, who had no previous criminal history, also must repay the state &ģ6 87,022.58 for investigating and prosecuting the case. Now it's evident that this kind of behavior won't be tolerated in the state of Oregon, said Diane Bassett-Pohl, a former Medford resident who testified on behalf of the Oregon Mortuary and Cemetery Board.Ĭircuit Court Judge Ray White told Kern that he was fortunate the state agreed to a prison sentence of just a year and six months, in addition to three years post-prison supervision. The charge carries a maximum 20-year prison term under Oregon law, but the state agreed to the shorter sentence. Kern pleaded guilty Monday in Jackson County Circuit Court to one count of racketeering under an agreement with the Oregon Department of Justice. Kern filed for bankruptcy when state investigators started looking into his business practices. Kern spent the money buying more funeral homes, remodeling others and on his own personal needs, prosecutors said. Kern never held a license to operate funeral homes in Oregon or to sell pre-paid funeral contracts.ģ6 5.4 million turned up missing in 1998 from trust accounts involving Kern's 11 funeral homes in Medford and Grants Pass. Kern, 38, of Ashland, drained the largest amount of money from any funeral home trust fund in Oregon and perhaps in the country, prosecutors and witnesses said. The former operator of Perl Funeral Home, who misappropriated millions earmarked for pre-paid funeral arrangements, will go to prison for one and a half years.ĭavid A.
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