Bucks Co. Funeral Director Who Stole $300K Sentenced

A Bucks County funeral director who forged death certificates and stole more than $300,000 in prepaid funeral costs from more than 50 clients was sentenced to state prison on Thursday.

David Wayne Faust, 54, of Hulmeville, will serve nine to 18 years behind bars followed by nine years of probation. He was the director of Faust Funeral Home in Hulmeville.

The sentence is "well outside the aggravated range of sentencing guidelines," prosecutors said.

During sentencing, Judge Diane E. Gibbons told a sobbing Faust he was "the most manipulative human being I think I have ever met."

In June, Faust pleaded guilty to counts related to the thefts and forgery of signatures and public documents, as well as to charges he stole $129,000 from the U.S. Social Security Administration by lying on paperwork so as to receive disability payments.

County investigators began looking into Faust after it was discovered he forged doctors' signatures on death certificates, allowing him to take approximately $300,000 from clients over 17 years.

The money had been paid to him by clients who prearranged for funeral services through his funeral home. The money was supposed to be held in escrow until the funeral.

Faust told the judge Faust he did not recall what he bought with the money. He noted he "assumed" he used it to pay bills, information from the Bucks County District Attorney's office said.

One of the victims was a 95-year-old cancer patient, who said she wanted to prepare for her funeral so "it might be a little easier for my children when I die." She chose Faust because of his business’s good reputation.

“I totally let you down,” Faust said, sobbing, according to information provided by the Bucks County District Attorney's office. “You did not deserve what I did to you.”

His sentencing was twice delayed because Faust told prosecutors he could sell off assets to pay his $433,282 restitution. "Those assets were found to be hopelessly encumbered, despite Faust’s assurances, and so he came to court Thursday offering his victims only apologies," the Bucks County District Attorney's office said in a news release.

To date, Faust’s victims have received just $45,000 in restitution through the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Victim Compensation Assistance Program. The program, described as the state’s “payer of last resort,” is limited in the amount it can provide to victims.

Bucks County Detectives were assisted in their investigation by the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General and the Network Of Victim Assistance.

Image via Bucks County DA