By JESSE BEDAYN

DENVER (AP) — A funeral home owner in Colorado accused of storing nearly 190 decomposing bodies in a room-temperature building and defrauding the federal government out of nearly $900,000 is expected to plead guilty in federal court, according to court documents filed Tuesday.

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Carie Hallford, who ran Return to Nature Funeral Home with her husband Jon Hallford, allegedly duped the Small Business Administration out of almost $900,000 in pandemic-era relief aid and cheated customers who had paid for cremations the Hallfords never performed.

Instead, the Hallfords are accused of spending the aid and customers’ payments on lavish goods — luxury cars, cryptocurrency and items from stores like Gucci — all while stashing the bodies and sending fake ashes to the families.

The Hallfords were charged with 15 fraud counts last year in federal court, where Jon Hallford already pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and was sentenced to 20 years in prison last month.

Carie Hallford is set to change her plea in federal court from not guilty in early August, and is expected to plead guilty, according to a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Colorado.

Hallford’s attorney, Robert Charles Melihercik, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

FILE – This combination of booking photos provided by the Muskogee County, Okla., Sheriff’s Office shows Jon Hallford, left, and Carie Hallford, the owners of Return to Nature Funeral Home. (Muskogee County Sheriff’s Office via AP, File)

In a separate case in state court, Jon and Carie Hallford are both charged with 191 counts of corpse abuse for allegedly stashing the bodies between 2019 and 2023 and burying the wrong body in two instances.

The building in Penrose, about a two-hour drive south of Denver, was searched in 2023. Officials discovered bodies stacked atop each other, swarms of bugs and fluid covering the floor. Families were shaken to learn their loved ones’ remains weren’t in the ashes they had spread, but were instead left decaying, some for four years.

Homicide investigators are asking for the public’s help in finding a man they say is a suspect in a fatal stabbing in Apple Valley early Sunday morning.

About 3:12 a.m. Sunday, police were called to the intersection of Pennock Avenue and 138th Street on reports of a man on the sidewalk, the Apple Valley Police Department said in a news release. When they arrived, they found the man was covered in blood with multiple stab wounds. Despite lifesaving measures, the man was ultimately pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

On Tuesday, police named a suspect in that killing. They are asking for help in locating 20-year-old Aron Isait Medina Rojas. He goes by the name Medina Rojas, drives a 2018 gray Chrysler 300 with the Minnesota license plate number JPU 845,  and might be trying to escape authorities by fleeing to Mexico.

Authorities say that anyone who sees Medina Rojas should call 911. Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call the Apple Valley Police Department at 952-322-2323.

The Hennepin County medical examiner’s office will release the identity of the victim at a later date.

UCare has announced plans to withdraw from non-senior Medicaid coverage in 11 Minnesota counties, including Ramsey, affecting 88,000 members.

The Minneapolis-based health insurance nonprofit said it will not provide Medicaid coverage beginning Sept. 1 in Benton, Chisago, Crow Wing, Pennington, Ramsey, Roseau, Sherburne, Stearns, St. Louis, Wadena and Wright counties. The withdrawal is expected to be temporary, according to the provider.

UCare, which is contracted through the state to administer Medicaid insurance, pays for members’ insurance claims and receives a monthly payment from the state, but the state’s payment rates are not adequate, UCare communications and public relations specialist Wendy Wicks said.

“The payments are not meeting the cost of the claims that we’re receiving,” Wicks said. “So, in essence, we’ve had to scale back our enrollment to be able to serve the members we have.”

In agreement with the Minnesota Department of Human Services, UCare made the decision “to offset further losses in particular counties,” according to the provider. The temporary timeframe is to be determined in partnership with the department, according to UCare.

“UCare has experienced significant losses in Medicaid because of a payment mismatch between the government payments we receive and the rising cost of care among our members,” a press release stated.

UCare started facing financial challenges in 2023, Wicks said, when more enrollees began seeking care that had been deferred during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Elective services like joint replacements increased and prescriptions for expensive, new GLP-1 medications such as Ozempic and Wegovy also increased, while government payment rates were not keeping pace, she said.

“We just need to balance our books,” Wicks said. “That’s what it will take. We have to get to a point of break-even right now.”

Wicks said UCare has been doing everything it can to reduce costs, including laying off some of its employees to reduce administrative costs.

According to UCare, the Department of Human Services began notifying members of the withdrawal last week. Those affected are members enrolled in PMAP (the Prepaid Medical Assistance Program) and MinnesotaCare plans for eligible adults under 65, children and families, according to UCare.

Medicaid plans for seniors and residents with disabilities in the 11 counties will not be impacted by the temporary withdrawal, UCare stated.

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“UCare will continue to serve more than 250,000 PMAP and MinnesotaCare members in 44 counties plus the state’s largest county, Hennepin County,” the release stated. “We remain as committed as ever to Minnesota Medicaid and are confident this short-term solution will result in long-term sustainability. We look forward to returning to these counties in the future.”

Each county impacted by the withdrawal has at least two other health plan options, including Blue Cross Blue Shield and Medica, according to UCare.

“UCare will work with DHS and their enrollees’ new health plans to assist with transitions of care as people move to their new health plans,” the Department of Human Services stated.

Minnesota’s HMO continuity of care statute requires health plans to allow people to continue to see their current provider for up to 120 days if they are in the middle of a course of treatment, according to the department.

Enrollees should call their provider to ensure that they are in network with their new health plan, the department stated.

HOUSTON (AP) — A Chinese national has been arrested on suspicion of hacking into several U.S. universities’ computer systems to steal COVID-19-related research, authorities announced on Tuesday.

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Xu Zewei is charged in a nine-count indictment in the Southern District of Texas for his alleged involvement in computer intrusions between February 2020 and June 2021. Another Chinese national, Zhang Yu, was also charged in the indictment.

Xu was arrested on Thursday in Italy and is awaiting extradition to the U.S. Authorities said Zhang remains at large.

Xu and others are accused of targeting and hacking several U.S.-based universities, immunologists, and virologists conducting research into COVID‑19 vaccines, treatment and testing, according to court documents.

“The hacking of these American universities is not just a violation of intellectual property rights. It’s an attack on American scientific innovation,” Nicholas J. Ganjei, the Houston-based U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, said at a news conference.

Authorities declined to name the universities that had been targeted but said two were located in the Southern District of Texas.

Authorities allege that officers of China’s Ministry of State Security, or MSS, directed Xu and others to conduct the hacking.

A spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately reply to an email seeking comment.

Authorities allege Xu and Zhang were part of a group known as HAFNIUM, that targeted over 60,000 U.S. entities, successfully victimizing more than 12,700 in order to steal sensitive information. One of those targeted was a law firm with offices worldwide, including in Washington, D.C.

The charges against Xu include wire fraud, obtaining information by unauthorized access to protected computers and aggravated identity theft. The wire fraud charges carry sentences of up to 20 years in prison.

Tuesday’s announcement comes after the Justice Department earlier this month said two Chinese nationals had been charged with spying inside the United States on behalf of Beijing, including by taking photographs of a naval base.