Nov 19, 2018 2 min read

A Washington County assistant district attorney Monday withdrew charges of deceptive business practices against Moreland Burial Vault Co. of 485 Park Ave., North Franklin Township.

Two customers, Darlene Galloway of Claysville and Karen S. Clark of Donegal Township, alleged they paid for service or markers at West Alexander Cemetery that they did not receive.

District Judge Ethan T. Ward told Assistant District Attorney Nathan Michaux he wanted to hear from those who had brought the private criminal complaints, previously approved by the district attorney’s office, before he took official action.

“I didn’t know what to do,” said Karen S. Clark of Donegal Township during the brief proceeding. “I hated that I had to do this.”

Clark, in her complaint filed with the magistrate, said, in February 2015, she paid $781 for a gravestone for her mother and another $172 for a foundation. The foundation had been installed but the marker was lacking.

Outside the courtroom, Clark said the headstone was put into place just after a story about her circumstances and those of Galloway appeared Oct. 18, her mother’s birthdate, in the Observer-Reporter.

“They called me the following Monday and said it would be placed by Friday,” Clark said after the hearing.

Galloway left the magistrate’s office before the case was called. According to her complaint, she paid $185 in May 2017 to have her parents’ tombstone cleaned and her mother’s date of death added to the marker. The work, she had alleged, was not performed.

George Bernett, owner of Moreland Vault, attributed the situation to his medical problems.

“I got behind in my work,” he said. “This has never happened before.”

In the matter with Galloway, Moreland Vault paid her $100 restitution.

“The district attorney agreed by dropping the case that there was no fraud or deception,” said Peter Darragh, Bernett’s attorney.

“It was a simple case of he got behind in his work. Now he’s completed the work to the satisfaction of both parties. Everyone’s happy.”