Aiken funeral home owner Cody Anderson faces up to 30 years in prison for conspiracy in connection with the signing of a will of an 88-year-old woman who passed away in 2022.
Anderson, 37, pleaded guilty last week to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud. In addition to a maximum sentence of 30 years, he faces a fine of up to $1 million and five years supervision after prison.
Senior U.S. District Judge Joseph F. Anderson Jr. accepted the guilty plea and will sentence Anderson at a later date.
According to a statement from the U.S. Attorney for the South Carolina District Court, evidence showed that sometime during the pandemic, an Aiken woman executed a will that purported to leave the entirety of her $20 million estate to Anderson’s co-conspirator, Thomas Allen Bateman Jr.
Bateman, a former funeral director, pleaded guilty last year and is scheduled to be sentenced March 3 in Columbia.
Anderson, the owner of the George Funeral Home and a 2019 candidate for state house, was designated as the woman’s personal representative and stood to be paid a fee of 5%, the statement said.
“Evidence developed during the investigation indicated the 88-year-old woman did not have the mental capacity to make an informed decision regarding the disposition of her assets,” it said.
According to previous reports, Bateman drove the victim to the funeral home, where she signed the will in the front seat of his car. Three employees allegedly witnessed the signing, but told authorities they were not aware of what was being signed.
An Aiken County court voided the will after a few months and the matter of the victim’s estate was turned over to a special administrator.
Civil cases filed in Aiken Circuit Court show Anderson and Bateman face similar allegations of conspiracy and other misdeeds involving other people’s wills.
