Jon and Carie Hallford are back in court on Monday for an El Paso County judge to determine whether to accept new plea negotiations. A few hours ahead of the 1:30 p.m. hearing, victims of the Return to Nature Funeral Home case plan to protest outside the downtown Colorado Springs courthouse. Judg e Eric Bentley separately rejected the couple’s initial plea agreements this year after outcry from the victims over the length of sentence and desire for a trial. The original plea agreement stipulated a 20-year prison sentence each to run concurrently to their federal sentences. (Scroll down for updates.) If accepted, the new plea agreements would give Jon Hallford a 30- to 50-year prison sentence and Carie Hallford a 25- to 35-year sentence. The sentence would run concurrently to the federal sentences. Jon Hallford, 46, has already been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison on conspiracy to commit wire fraud charges, but has since appealed the sentence. Carie Hallford, 49, is set for federal sentencing in March. She is expected to receive 15 years in federal prison. Protest planned The family victims in the case have planned a protest to begin at 11 a.m. Monday outside of the El Paso County Courthouse. “This protest is a public call for accountability and justice. Victims and their families are urging the court to reject any plea agreement and allow the case to proceed to trial,” a Friday news release from the victims stated. If the court decides not to take the case to trial, the victims are asking for over 191 years’ imprisonment, one year for each recovered body out of the Penrose location, plus nearly three years for those unaccounted for. Prior to 2020, abuse of a corpse was a class two misdemeanor, and carried a possible jail term of three months to a year. House Bill 20-1148 altered how the crime is classified, changing it to a level 6 felony with a sentencing guideline of one year to 18 months, and although not likely in the Hallfords’ case, probation is an option for some level 6 felony offenders. The trials for Jon and Carie Hallford are scheduled to begin in February and October, respectively. Prosecutors said they were likely to call to the stand nearly 200 family members whose relatives’ remains were discovered, to testify to the state of the bodies when handed over, and communication between them and the Hallfords. 11 a.m.: Victim families begin to arrive at the courthouse to start protesting ahead of the hearing. It was an emotional scene with many embracing one another as tears fell from their eyes.  11:45 a.m.: Victims start speaking to media after setting up a table with nearly 200 acorns representing each of the bodies found inside the funeral home. About 10 showed up to speak in favor of the case going to trial. Crystina Page, whose son’s body was among those found at the funeral home, had this to say about Jon Hallford: “If we get a 30 to 50 (years sentenced), and they do, in fact, sentence to 50, served at 25%, that 12 and a half years will be eaten up by the 17 and federal. That means they will not serve a single day in jail for what they did to my child. “If they think that 191 years is absurd, they should have stopped after my son (David Jaxon Page). And this would be a 18-month case.” Angelika Stedman said she used Return to Nature for her late daughter, Chanelle Chaloux, but her body was never found. “I certainly believe that going to trial, which we’re hoping for, that even if one more person is able to find some answers, to get some kind of closure it is worth it,” Stedman said. “I lost my daughter twice,” she said. “The loss of a child is one of the most horrible things that can happen to anybody. As far as I’m concerned, they’d better start writing that book for us on what they did with every one of those bodies. In detail. so we know. That’s the only way I would ever, ever consider any kind of (leniency).” Some frustration regarding the timing of Monday’s hearing was expressed. With many families spread out all around the country, Page said she was pleased with the protest turnout, but knows many more people would show up if given the time to make travel arrangements.  This article will be updated. ...read more read less