Former Perry Co. coroner receives added sentence over stealing scheme

Former Perry County coroner Herbert Miller has been sentenced again in connection with another theft scheme.

Judge Craig Brewer sentenced Miller on Tuesday to a year in jail to run concurrently with his existing prison sentences, according to court records.

The judge also ordered Miller to pay $3,190 in restitution for stealing thousands of dollars from a couple who had deposited funds for prepaid funerals.

The Missouri Attorney General's Office previously obtained felony convictions against Miller, who owned a funeral home, for felony stealing and financial exploitation of the elderly.

In December 2015, Miller was sentenced to two concurrent, seven-year prison sentences. The judge in that case, Benjamin Lewis, suspended the sentence, placed Miller on five years probation and ordered him to make restitution of $80,600.

But in 2017, Miller was charged with stealing again, while on probation.

The Attorney General's Office (AGO) filed the charge in April 2017 after receiving complaints from the couple and others, beginning in late 2015, regarding funds deposited with Miller.

On Nov. 3, 2017, Lewis revoked Miller's probation and ordered him to prison on the original charges.

Lewis told Miller "it was not my intention" for the former coroner to resort to stealing to pay restitution.

Beginning in late 2015, Perry County residents Tom and Lila Welsh and other consumers complained to the AGO regarding funds deposited with Miller.

The AGO subsequently prosecuted Miller for stealing money from the Welshes, which led to the latest sentence.

Separately, state prosecutors obtained a judgment of more than $372,000 on behalf of 54 Missouri consumers who were also defrauded, according to a news release from the AGO last December.

Then-attorney general Josh Hawley said at the time "Herbert Miller preyed upon his elderly friends and neighbors."

mbliss@semissourian.com

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