1843 LLC gravestone company settles with Pennsylvania attorney general

The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Workplace on Tuesday claimed it has achieved a settlement with the operators of an Upper Darby gravestone and engraving enterprise accused of taking hundreds of dollars from customers who shed cherished types and failing to make cemetery markers on time or at all.

Underneath the settlement, Gregory J. Stefan Sr., Gregory J. Stefan Jr., and Gerard Stefan, the owners of 1843 LLC, will be prohibited from the gravestone business enterprise and will be demanded to shell out restitution, explained Acting Lawyer Typical Michelle Henry. The amount of the restitution was not specified.

A judge will have to approve the settlement before it requires outcome, and also will identify any civil penalties to be imposed.

“The Stefans didn’t just consider advantage of men and women, but preyed on those people grieving beloved ones at a hard time in their life,” Henry mentioned in a assertion. “This settlement will lastly guarantee that all Pennsylvania people who had been harmed are created entire. The Office of Attorney Basic will keep on to use each individual resource at its disposal to make sure that Pennsylvanians are handled rather.”

Stefan Sr. was at first sued by the Lawyer General’s Workplace in 2015 as the sole operator of Lifestone by Stefan, LLC and Stefan Memorials, Inc.

That circumstance ended in a settlement and court docket get, but former Attorney Normal Josh Shapiro accused Stefan Sr. of violating the phrases of that settlement. That resulted in a judgment for far more than $300,000 and an injunction that barred Stefan Sr. from proudly owning, managing, or acquiring any significant involvement in a business that presents or engraves headstones for shoppers.

Prior to that injunction, however, Stefan and his sons proven a new company under the name 1843 LLC.

The Lawyer General’s Workplace sued once more in 2021.

Headstone companies linked with the Stefans have a heritage of issues. Because 2015, community news retailers have claimed that customers had trouble getting headstones they compensated for. The Improved Company Bureau, a nonprofit that grades firms on trustworthiness, gave Lifestone by Stefan an “F.”

In 2021, Stefan Jr. was arrested by Yeadon Borough police and charged with theft and associated offenses in relationship with the headstone organization. That case continues to be active, according to court docket records.

Michael J. Malloy, a law firm representing Stefan Jr. in that scenario, could not arrived at for remark Tuesday night.

Stefan family members members could not be reached for comment.

“The Stefans did not just consider edge of persons, but preyed on people grieving cherished types at a complicated time in their lives,” explained Acting Lawyer Typical Henry. “This settlement will finally guarantee that all Pennsylvania individuals who have been harmed are made entire.”