A 54-year-old man whose tombstone business repeatedly ran into trouble with authorities has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of defrauding customers out of more than $1.5 million, U.S. Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero announced Tuesday.
Gregory J. Stefan Jr., of Upper Merion, was charged with seven counts of wire fraud and made his initial court appearance Tuesday before U.S. District Court Judge Jose R. Arteaga, Romero said. The grand jury indictment was filed late last month.
Prosecutors allege Stefan, through his businesses 1834 LLC and Colonial Memorials, defrauded nearly 500 customers out of more than $1.5 million for headstones that were never delivered, or were late, or had other problems, Romero said.
The indictment says Stefan demanded large upfront payments from his customers — often 100% of the purchase price — but routinely failed to fulfill orders by projected delivery dates.
In December, Stefan Jr. was charged in Delaware with felony theft in connection with the headstones that were never delivered.
Stefan Jr. was also arrested and charged last year in Delaware County with 280 counts of theft and deceptive business practices.
The law firm representing Stefan Jr. declined to comment Tuesday.
In 2015, Gregory Stefan Sr. was initially charged by the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office as the sole operator of Lifestone by Stefan LLC and Stefan Memorials Inc. The two businesses had been the subject of complaints since at least 2010, according to the federal indictment.
The 2015 civil case ended in a settlement and a court order, but former Attorney General Josh Shapiro accused Stefan Sr. of violating the terms of the agreement. That resulted in a judgment of more than $300,000 and an injunction barring Stefan Sr. from owning, managing or having a significant involvement in a business that provides or engraves headstones for consumers.
As complaints continued, the Attorney General’s Office filed another lawsuit in 2021.
In January 2023, the Attorney General’s Office announced that it had reached a settlement with Gregory J. Stefan Sr., Gregory J. Stefan Jr., and Gerard Stefan, who were described as the owners of 1843 LLC.
The federal indictment states that 1843 LLC was formed in 2016 with a registered office in Upper Darby, and that Stefan Jr. and his brother, identified by prosecutors only as “GS,” each owned 50% of the company.
Stefan Jr. ran the day-to-day operations from 2016 until about March 2021, the indictment said. The business obtained its tombstones from a third-party supplier in Hillsborough, N.J.
According to the indictment, Stefan Jr. would sell the tombstones at an average price that was 400% higher than the cost price.
In 2021, a Delaware County judge ruled that Stefan’s business was in breach of its original consent agreement. The federal indictment alleges that Stefan Jr. then “organized the establishment” of Colonial Memorials, a tombstone business in Bridgewater, N.J.
His wife is listed as president, but Stefan Jr. ran the business from 2021 until about September 2023, the indictment said.
Stefan Sr. has been in the tombstone business since the 1970s and acquired several other family-run tombstone businesses over the years, the indictment states. Those other businesses continue to operate under their old names but are run by Stefan’s family.
