Judge Sentences Pet Crematorium Owner To 20 Years In Jail For Duping Owners

A Maryland man who ran a sham pet cremation business will spend two decades in prison after distributing bags of gravel and construction debris to grieving animal owners instead of their pets’ ashes.

A Baltimore County judge sentenced 56-year-old Rodney Ward to 20 years along with $12,000 in restitution March 31, according to CBS Baltimore. Ward entered a guilty plea in February to theft and malicious destruction of property tied to his unlicensed Catonsville operation, Loving Care Pet Funeral and Cremation Services. Prosecutors said the business collected roughly $13,000 from victims, CBS Baltimore reported.

None of the material Ward gave pet owners contained actual animal remains, according to CBS Baltimore. A forensic anthropologist found most samples consisted of concrete powder and other construction supplies. A few even included human teeth and dental implants. (RELATED: ‘Sick To My Stomach’: Community Outraged After Driver’s Treatment Of Deer Caught On Video)

Judge Keith R. Truffer divided the sentence into five years for theft and 15 years for destruction of property, the Baltimore Banner reported. Standard guidelines recommend one year, which prosecutor Adam Lippe called “woefully inadequate,” according to the Banner. Ward’s public defender, Clarke Agre, told the courtroom his client feels terrible about what happened. Several audience members laughed at the claim, the Banner reported.

Ward sat stone-faced through more than an hour of victim testimony and did not turn to face the speakers, according to the Baltimore Banner.

The judge offered to trim Ward’s sentence if he disclosed where the missing pets ended up. Ward refused, according to WMAR-2 News.

Maryland business owner sentenced after returning false ashes to grieving pet owners https://t.co/tIKz4m5ASM

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“No amount of money, no amount of punishment will give us the peace or the justice that we deserve because it should’ve never happened in the first place,” victim Nikki Pickens told WMAR-2.

Yalanda Ward, Rodney’s wife and co-defendant, faces trial May 6. State lawmakers are also pushing House Bill 564, which would force pet cremation operators to register with Maryland and keep thorough records, CBS Baltimore reported.