Ohio Man Hit With 37 Count Indictment (Including Abuse Of A Corpse) For Operating Illegal Funeral Home

Columbus, OH – Shawnte Hardin, 41, has been indicted by a grand jury on a 37 count indictment for providing funeral services without a license.

The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation recently removed two bodies from a building Hardin was using for makeshift funeral services at 1615 East Livingston Avenue in Columbus. 

Hardin has operated several businesses in Lucas, Cuyahoga, Summit and Franklin counties since at least 2019. The attorney general’s office said the business names included Hussain Funeral Directors, Celebration of Life Memorial Chapels, Hardin Funeral Home, Inc., American Mortuary Services and Transportation, and Shawnte Davon Hardin Services, LLC.

Here are a list of the charges Hardin is facing:

• One count of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, a first-degree felony.
• Three counts of tampering with records, third-degree felonies.
• One count of theft, a fourth-degree felony.
• Eight counts of abuse of a corpse, all fifth-degree felonies.
• Five counts of failure to file taxes, all fifth-degree felonies.
• Five counts of passing bad checks, all fifth-degree felonies.
• Two counts of identity fraud, both fifth-degree felonies.
• Two counts of telecommunications fraud, both fifth-degree felonies.
• Six counts of representation as a funeral director while unlicensed, two unclassified felonies and four unclassified misdemeanors.
• Single counts of fifth-degree felony criminal tools and unauthorized use of a vehicle.
• One count of operating an unlicensed funeral home, an unclassified felony.
• One count of failure to refrigerate a human body, an unclassified misdemeanor.

The court case records listed no attorney for Hardin as of Friday. He previously denied allegations that he was running an illegal funeral home, saying during an interview with WBNS-TV in Columbus last month that what he offered was lower-cost services for transporting and washing bodies.

The attorney general’s office said the case is being prosecuted by the Special Prosecutions Section and was investigated by BCI.