PITTSBURGH —
A Pittsburgh funeral home owner accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from people who paid for pet burial and cremation services is set to plead guilty to all charges.
According to court documents, the jury trial for Patrick Vereb has been canceled. Officials say he is expected to plead guilty to all charges with no agreement on what his sentence would be. The plea date is scheduled for Oct. 22.
The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office says it has all victims’ statements and is requesting Vereb pay restitution as part of his final sentence, which will be imposed at a later date after a pre-sentence investigation.
“It’s bad enough to lose a loved one to begin with. But then, when there’s tragedy in the aftermath of it, it just sticks with you,” said Brett Pryor, who told Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 that his pet was supposed to be cremated but instead ended up in a landfill.
Pryor added, “I do feel like he’s getting away with it.”
Tiffany Mantzouridis, a licensed funeral director, was Vereb’s intern and went to police. She said she wanted to speak up more during a trial, but now won’t get that opportunity.
“It is incredibly disheartening just for all of the victims, myself included, because I had a cat that my parents sent there that ended up not getting cremated,” Mantzouridis told Pittsburgh’s Action News 4.
The improper disposal of pets
According to the Pennsylvania attorney general, thousands of dogs and cats were improperly disposed of after their owners paid for cremations, burials and other services to be provided by Vereb Funeral Home and Eternity Pet Memorial.
Patrick Vereb was the owner of that establishment.
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PATRICK VEREB
TRIB PHOTO: PATRICK VEREB
Those services amounted to more than $650,000 between 2021 and 2024, according to officials.
According to a criminal complaint, employees said Vereb instructed them to explain the different packages available to the pet owners’ families, including common burial services, private cremations, and paw prints and fur clipping of the animals.
The employees said Vereb told them to stress that they do “private” cremation as opposed to communal cremations, the complaint stated. They said pet owners often asked about getting their own pet’s remains back, saying they were instructed by Vereb to tell them once EPM received a pet, it would be given a tag with the pet’s name and the family’s last name on it.
At cremation, the complaint said, the pet was said to get a metal tag with a number to further ensure the remains were marked correctly. A signed cremation certificate was also said to be given to the pet’s owner, along with the ashes, which reinforced the belief the ashes were the remains of their actual pets, the complaint said.
Pets dumped at landfill
Brett Pryor told Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 that his dog, Chevy, was supposed to be cremated by Vereb’s business, Eternity Pet Memorials, but was instead put into a landfill.
“When we looked into it, we got on the list and they got back to us with definitive proof that, for some reason, he kept track of that, and it was marked down that that’s what happened to Chevy, which is disheartening to say the least — to think of a loved one’s final resting place to be a garbage dump,” Pryor said.
Following employee statements, an investigation revealed Vereb would take money in exchange for services, then dump many of the pets at a landfill and give customers ashes with other or unknown animals.
The complaint said EPM employees created and maintained a spreadsheet of invoices sent to the vets that contained the pets’ names, date of death, and cost of services following the request for cremation.
According to officials, the pets were given to Eternity Pet Memorial directly from those who purchased services or through area veterinarians.
Following the investigation, more than 6,500 victims have already been identified.
The Attorney General’s Office states those victims are from multiple western Pennsylvania counties, including Allegheny, Washington and Westmoreland counties.
Victims rally against Vereb
Many victims have come forward since the complaints dropped against Vereb.
“We didn’t know that legitimate places would give you a tag and a certificate, and we didn’t get any of that, and we were shocked when we found out on the news about what he had done,” said Jack Packard.
In June, pet owners and victims said they still felt the need to rally together outside the courthouse where Vereb was set to appear. He waived that hearing.
“When we handed her (our pet) to Patrick Vereb behind his funeral home, saying to him to take care of her, little did we know that the ashes we got back could be anybody’s ashes,” said Linda Packard.
“I trusted Patrick to not only complete a service I paid for, but more importantly, to treat Delilah with care, respect, and honor,” Alexa Wolfe said about her pet.