Couple who bilked clients of thousands sent to prison
DELAWARE — The people cheated out of thousands of dollars meant for cemetery vaults, grave markers and services who packed a courtroom Friday got to see the husbandand-wife team responsible for their losses led out in shackles.
Theodore L. “Ted” Martin, 54, former co-owner of Fairview Memorial Park in Lewis Center, was sentenced in Delaware County Common Pleas Court to five years in prison for 14 counts of theft, most from elderly clients, between 2014 and 2016. His wife, Arminda Martin, 47, will serve 4 years for similar crimes.
In addition to prison, the couple is responsible for more than $183,000 in restitution and must serve three years each of probation after their release.
Both spoke in the courtroom, telling the victims and Judge Everett Krueger that when they purchased the financially strapped cemetery in 2008 and inherited its problems, they quickly became overwhelmed.
Mrs. Martin, who lives with her mother in York, Pennsylvania, said quietly through tears: “I hope that one day that we will be forgiven by the families ... I know that we can pay these families back in a timely way.”
Her attorney, Kingston Malley, said property owned by the cemetery could be sold to pay restitution.
Mr. Martin was transported to the courtroom from federal prison, where he is serving the remainder of a one-year sentence for federal tax-fraud. He spent about 15 minutes faulting the system that oversees Ohio’s cemetery businesses and noting the couple’s willingness to use gambling winnings to help pay off previous debt.
“We’re very sorry that this has exploded,” he said. “We tried to do the best we could under dire circumstances.”
Delaware County Assistant Prosecutor Mark Sleeper called the excuses “offensive and ridiculous.”
Some of the more than 70 victims, he said, “were getting ready for surgeries ... making sure their families wouldn’t have to pay for these expenses. They didn’t have the ability to go out and make more money.”
“These are thefts from the people at their most vulnerable, who were doing their best to take care of their families,” Sleeper said.
Dorothea Perry chided the couple for not showing remorse.
“My mother worked to be able to afford what they stole from us,” she told the court. “I don’t know how (Mr. Martin) can sit here and not look at me.”
Roberta Cook said Mr. Martin visited her personally and told her, “I have the most wonderful stone” — a $2,400 marker she never saw.
“When he looks in his mirror what does he see? I hope he gets on his knees and asks God for forgiveness,” Cook said. “I am very happy to see him in shackles today. That brings me a lot of joy.”
The Martins face similar theft charges for mismanagement of another cemetery in Portage County as well as federal tax evasion charges and liens from the IRS.
As the restraints were placed on Mrs. Martin’s wrists, the couple said nothing to each other as they were led away.