Co-owner of Penrose Funeral Home is now out of federal custody due to house arrest and GPS tracking

DENVER, Colo. (KRDO) — A federal judge ruled Thursday that Carie Hallford, the co-owner of Return to Nature Funeral Home with her husband Jon, can be released from prison on home confinement, GPS monitoring and an unsecured bond, during the The couple's federal fraud case continues.

Thursday morning's hearing was brief as the judge presiding over the federal case asked Carie if she had read and signed the bail agreements for her release. Carie said, “Yes, your honor.”

The judge then signed the conditions himself, and Carie headed to the pretrial commission, where she was fitted with a new GPS ankle monitor to service both the federal and state bonds placed on her.

Carie can now live under house arrest in the hotel where she last stayed with her husband Jon, along with the tracking device monitoring her whereabouts.

Court documents also show that Carie signed a $10,000 unsecured bond, meaning she will not have to pay the bond amount as long as she shows up for required court dates in the future. Conversely, if she fails to appear, she will be fined.

KRDO13 also learned that Door Dash, the delivery company that Jon and Carie made money from during the term of their government bond, has frozen their accounts pending the results of their lawsuit(s).

Carie's defense council requested a Level 1 restriction on her bail agreement documents, citing concerns about disclosing her residence to the public due to house arrest. The judge granted this request.

The Return to Nature Funeral Home co-owner was wearing a dark blue crew-neck sweater with the Broncos logo on it, jeans and Vans sneakers, and had her wrists and ankles shackled.

She and her husband, Jon, were recently charged with more than a dozen counts of federal wire fraud for taking money not only from customers but also from the U.S. government through small business COVID relief loans.

After her meeting with investigators, Carie was allowed to freely leave the federal courthouse in Denver, but stopped at the main entrance and turned around when she saw media waiting outside.

At the time of writing, Carie has not left the courthouse.

She and Jon are scheduled to appear in court on June 14, ahead of their jury trial tentatively scheduled for June 17, which is expected to last 10 days.