Crematory operator gets 12 year sentence

LAFAYETTE, Ga., Feb. 1 (UPI) -- A north Georgia crematory operator has been sentenced to 12 years in prison in a plea agreement after 334 bodies were found strewn about his property.

After hearing victim impact statements from 24 relatives of the dead, Superior Judge James Bodiford said he had accepted the negotiated agreement for Ray Marsh to spend 12 years in prison, and be eligible for parole after four years.

Marsh, 32, was arrested in February 2002 when 334 bodies were discovered buried, stacked and strewn around the Tri-State Crematory near the Tennessee border.

Marsh has apologized to families, but there has never been any indication why it occurred.

If he had gone to trial, Marsh would have had to defend himself against 787 felony counts, including 122 counts of burial service fraud, 439 counts of theft, 179 counts of abuse of a corpse and 47 counts of making false statements. The offenses together added up to more than 8,000 years in prison, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution said.