Issue #7 · August 18, 2026
16 Bodies Behind a Revoked License; $217 Million, Case by Case; Connecticut's Damages Hearing Nears
Louisiana revoked Gary Lewis's funeral license. An automatic stay let him keep operating. A sheriff's eviction found 16 bodies inside. SCI's full lawsuit record tops $217 million across at least five states, and Connecticut's civil case against Spartan Stone reaches a damages hearing this week.
By Heidi Macomber, Founder, Obitley
The state revoked his license. The appeal let him keep the doors open. Then the sheriff arrived.
The Louisiana State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors revoked Gary Lewis's funeral director license. He appealed the revocation to a higher court. The appeal triggered an automatic stay, and under that stay Lewis was legally permitted to continue operating New Orleans Funeral and Cremation Service, a funeral home whose license the state had already taken away.
On July 16, 2026, the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office executed a court-ordered eviction at the facility at 9200 I-10 Service Road. Two days later, the New Orleans Coroner's Office arrived to take emergency custody of what was inside: 16 human bodies and 12 sets of cremated remains, many without labels identifying the deceased. The coroner's office stated its role was to secure and safely take custody of the remains because the business could no longer operate.
On July 23, a family filed a civil lawsuit alleging their mother's body was allowed to decompose. The full investigation, published August 17, reconstructs the timeline: revocation, appeal, automatic stay, eviction, recovery. It is the story of the gap between revocation and enforcement, told through the families caught inside it.
That gap is built into professional licensing in most states. An automatic stay on appeal is standard practice. In this case it meant a funeral home whose license the state had taken away remained legally operational until a sheriff carried out an eviction order. What the eviction revealed is still being sorted out.
Source: Obitley investigation, August 17, 2026. Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office eviction record. New Orleans Coroner's Office statements. Louisiana State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors records.
Consolidation
$217 million, case by case: the lawsuit history behind the Dignity Memorial brands
The brand on the door says Dignity Memorial. The name on the court filings says Service Corporation International. Over more than two decades, roughly $217 million in settlements, civil penalties, and jury verdicts across at least five states attach to the corporate parent in Houston while the local brand on the door keeps the family name.
The case-by-case record includes a $100 million Florida class-action settlement for cemetery oversales at Menorah Gardens, an $80.5 million California settlement for grave destruction at Eden Memorial Park, and $23 million in California civil penalties in the 2024 proposed settlement with Neptune Society and Trident Society. It reaches further back, too: a $14 million Florida remediation agreement in 2003, a $325,000 Massachusetts jury verdict for the wrongful cremation of a stillborn infant in 2008, and an $18,000 fine in 2011 that remains the largest in Massachusetts board history for a wrong-grave case.
The record also includes a Virginia embalming hub where veterans awaiting burial at Arlington were stored on garage racks. SCI ended 2025 with 1,485 funeral service locations and 500 cemeteries. None of it stopped the company from growing.
Consumer Protection
Eleven months, twenty docket entries, one default: Connecticut's case against Spartan Stone reaches a hearing
Eric Reichbart pleaded guilty to larceny in July 2026 and was sentenced to 30 days in jail for taking deposits from grieving families and delivering nothing. The criminal case is over. The civil case filed by Attorney General William Tong under the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act is just getting started.
The lawsuit, filed September 17, 2025 against Spartan Stone and Monuments LLC, Eric Reichbart, and Joseph Reichbart, took nearly eleven months and twenty docket entries of motions, orders, amended summonses, and returns of service to reach the Hearings in Damages trial list. All three defendants have refused to participate. None has filed an appearance, an answer, or any motion. A default was entered against the LLC on June 8, 2026.
The next court date is a status conference on August 19, 2026, at 9:30 AM in Hartford. The lawsuit seeks civil penalties, restitution, and a court order barring the defendants from future violations. The question now is what a damages hearing can actually recover from defendants who never showed up.
On the Horizon
Stories and projects in development
- ›August 19, Hartford: Status conference at 9:30 AM in the civil case against Spartan Stone and Monuments. All three defendants have refused to participate. A default has been entered against the LLC.
- ›New Orleans: The coroner's office has taken emergency custody of 16 bodies and 12 sets of cremated remains, many without labels identifying the deceased. A family filed a civil lawsuit on July 23 alleging their mother's body was allowed to decompose.
- ›Sentencing pending: Gregory Stefan Jr. pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud in June 2026. A sentencing date has not been set. He faces up to 152 years in prison.
- ›November 10, Wheeling, West Virginia: Jeffrey Phares, who owned four cemeteries across north-central West Virginia, is sentenced for wire fraud after a March guilty plea. Court documents identify 225 victims owed more than $600,000 for grave markers never delivered. Victims must submit proof of loss before the hearing to make the restitution list.
- ›September 17, Tampa: A formal report on options for land adjacent to Marti-Colon Cemetery, where a 2024 radar study identified 16 subsurface anomalies. No state requires ground-penetrating radar before cemetery-adjacent development.
- ›In development: Obitley's investigation into state funeral home inspection ratios continues, with public records requests pending in multiple jurisdictions.
By the Numbers
Human bodies the New Orleans coroner recovered from a funeral home that stayed open under an automatic stay after license revocation
Sets of cremated remains recovered, many without labels identifying the deceased
SCI settlements, civil penalties, and jury verdicts across at least five states over two decades
Florida class-action settlement in the Menorah Gardens cemetery oversale case
California settlement for grave destruction at Eden Memorial Park
California civil penalties in the 2024 Neptune Society and Trident Society settlement
Funeral service locations SCI operated at the end of 2025, alongside 500 cemeteries
Eric Reichbart's criminal sentence. The civil case against him continues.
Victims identified in court documents in the Jeffrey Phares grave marker fraud case in West Virginia
Payments for grave markers never delivered in the Phares case, per court documents
From Obitley This Week
3 new investigations published on obitley.com:
16 BODIES, ONE APPEAL
How a revoked funeral license stayed open long enough to fail in New Orleans
$217 MILLION IN SETTLEMENTS
The Dignity Memorial lawsuit history, case by case
ELEVEN MONTHS, TWENTY DOCKET ENTRIES, ONE DEFAULT
Inside Connecticut's civil case against Spartan Stone and Monuments
The Weekly Deathcare Briefing is published every Tuesday by Obitley. If you have a tip, story idea, or correction, reply to this email.
Founder, Obitley · obitley.com
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