The spry octogenarian knows exactly what should happen to the corrupt Parkville funeral home owner who admitted yesterday that he stole almost $1 million from his elderly clients.
As a defrauded client, Catherine W. Isley feels empowered to recommend that former funeral home proprietor Paul Stella be sentenced to decades of supervised work release to pay back the most vulnerable senior citizens he bilked.
Isley, an 85-year-old retired real estate broker now living in York, Pa., lost $8,400 that was intended to cover burial costs for her and her daughter. The judge will get her recommendation in writing, Isley says.
"I don't want this man to get off with a smack on his wrist," she said.
Using a cane, Isley walked into U.S. District Court in Baltimore with a small crowd of victims to catch Stella's appearance yesterday.
The former funeral home director pleaded guilty to a single count of bank fraud and faces up to 30 years in prison. But federal investigators say Stella cheated more than 175 former clients out of more than $900,000 from their "pre-need" funeral accounts.
"In an outrageous abuse of trust, he stole from people who took steps to plan and pay for their own funerals," Rod J. Rosenstein, the U.S. attorney for Maryland, said in a statement.
Stella and his attorney, assistant federal public defender John H. Chun, declined to comment as they left the courtroom yesterday afternoon.
The number of people who pay for their funerals ahead of time is growing. Funeral directors promote the practice as a responsible way for elderly clients to plan ahead without leaving the financial burden to their families. Industry watchers estimate that up to one-third of all funerals are prepaid.
But the AARP recommends that its 35 million members over age 50 steer clear of prepaid funerals. Many consumer advocates agree, cautioning that a patchwork system of laws across the states fails to protect customers who dole out funds years before their deaths.
In Maryland, authorities say Stella exploited his clients' faith in him.
From his funeral home in the 7500 block of Harford Road, Stella persuaded customers to deposit prepaid funeral expenses in accounts at a bank and let him serve as a trustee, according to court documents filed with his guilty plea. After receiving money, authorities said, funeral home employees opened prepaid funeral expense accounts at Madison & Bradford Savings and Loan and its successor, Madison Bohemian Savings Bank.
