Gregory J. Stefan Jr., a 56-year-old headstone salesman from Upper Merion, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty today to seven counts of wire fraud and four counts of filing a false tax return. United States Attorney David Metcalf announced the plea before United States District Judge Juan R. Sánchez.
Stefan was charged in December 2024 for fraudulent business practices through his headstone sales companies, 1843 LLC and Colonial Memorials, and for failing to report income from these businesses on his tax returns. Between January 2018 and September 2023, Stefan defrauded hundreds of grieving customers by taking large upfront payments for custom headstones and engraving services he knew he would not deliver on time, or at all.
He routinely failed to fulfill orders by projected delivery dates, ignoring customers or using “lulling tactics” to assure them of imminent delivery without follow-through. In total, Stefan failed to deliver or refund orders for almost 500 customers, resulting in losses exceeding $1.5 million. Additionally, he falsely reported no income from his businesses on federal tax returns from 2018 through 2021.
As part of his federal plea agreement, Stefan accepted responsibility for similar crimes in 10 local cases across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware, adding an extra $210,000 loss to victims. He faces a maximum possible term of 152 years’ imprisonment and will be sentenced on a date yet to be determined. The FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation led the investigation, with Assistant United States Attorney Jessica Rice prosecuting the case.