Former Funeral Director Accused Of Ripping Off Clients Agrees To Plea, Will Serve 7-Plus Years

VERNON, CT — A now-former funeral director accused of stealing from families' pre-paid contracts to fund gambling excursions and other personal endeavors agreed to a plea deal Friday that lands him more than seven years in prison.

Phillip Pietras, 51, appeared in Rockville Superior Court before Judge Christopher Griffin to accept a plea of 15 years in prison, suspended after seven-and-a-half years.

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He is now scheduled for a formal guilty plea on Oct. 23 and a sentencing hearing on Jan. 22. The plea carries the charges of first-degree larceny (one court) and intent to defraud via a funeral contract (four counts).

More than 170 victims have signed up to testify and prosecutors are encouraging them to do it writing. They represented a good portion of a packed courtroom Friday.

Pietras stood before the judge in a shirt and tie.

The case goes back about a year. In September of last year, the Vernon Police Department announced that Pietras had been charged with 60 counts of intent to defraud via funeral service contracts and 20 counts of second-degree larceny following an extensive investigation into allegations of fraudulent activity involving 66 pre-planned funeral contracts.

According to a warrant, the investigation began in April 2025.

Pietras' bond was set at $800,000.

He also faces charges out of East Windsor, Tolland and his hometown of Coventry.

Detectives investigated Pietras' business practices from 2009-onward, according to a warrant. The payments from clients deposited into a Pietras Funeral Homes account ranged from $100 to tens of thousands.

Personal trips cited in the warrant mostly centered around gambling and casinos visited by Pietras and included Foxwoods, Mohegan Sun and the MGM in Springfield close by and farther trips to places like the Bellagio and the Hard Rock in Last Vegas. Trips to Harrah's in Atlantic City were also mentioned in the warrant.

And the gambling was extensive. For example, plays credited to Pietras' account at Foxwoods were worth $8,150,696 and his wife's plays were worth $2,079,792, according to a warrant.

And he didn't always win. In a report from Mohegan Sun obtained by police, Pietras' accumulated $1,220,451 in losses from 2010 to 2024, mostly playing slot machines, according to a warrant.

He also gambled via online services, according to a warrant.

Detectives said in a warrant that he incurred "innumerable" expenses for restaurants and shopping sprees in Connecticut, along with other "frivolous" expenses.

Pietras owned the Burke-Fortin Funeral Home in Vernon and the stately Victorian Era mansion in the Rockville section of town that housed the business. The mansion is for sale.

The state Board of Embalmers has revoked his license.

According to a warrant, Pietras told detectives that he would "rectify" the situation. According to a warrant, when asked by detectives if it were a common practice to use business accounts to fund personal endeavors, he responded, "Not really, but it might be the card I had available at the time. I just did it."

A Coventry warrant cites 19 cases involving twenty-two victims with a total loss of more than $165,000. Pietras was charged with 22 counts of selling a funeral service contract with intent to defraud, and 11 counts of second-degree larceny by embezzlement and one count of second-degree forgery.

A warrant out of East Windsor cites a total of $81,300 missing from clients' accounts, ranging from $4,500 to $15,700. He is facing a first-degree larceny charge there.