Quitman County coroner, aunt plead guilty in body-transport fraud case
A Quitman County coroner admitted billing Mississippi for body transport his office was not allowed to charge, and he must repay $12,350.
Quitman County coroner Randy Hester admitted he used a fake transport company to bill Mississippi for body pickups other funeral homes actually handled, a scheme that put public money into a service tied to death investigations in a county of 6,176 people with its seat in Marks. Mississippi courts sentenced Hester to five years of probation, ordered him to repay $12,350 and fined him $500.
Hester’s aunt, Brenda Pittman, also pleaded guilty and received two years of probation. Investigators said the pair created MFC Transit, opened a bank account in that name and listed Hester’s personal address as the business address.
The State Auditor’s Office said Hester submitted invoices for transporting bodies even though other funeral homes performed the work. That detail goes to the center of the case in Quitman County: as coroner, Hester was prohibited from billing the county for routine transportation of dead bodies. In a small county where death investigations depend on a coroner’s office that is supposed to be precise and above board, the fraud carried a trust cost as well as a financial one.
State agents announced the arrests on Jan. 30, 2025, saying Hester and Pittman had been booked on allegations of filing fraudulent invoices under a fictitious business name. Hester had faced up to 10 years in prison and $10,000 in fines if convicted. Instead, he pleaded guilty to false representations to defraud the government and conspiracy to fraudulently obtain public funds. Pittman pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the state.
The case also highlights the role Mississippi assigns to coroners. State law treats them as county medical examiners or investigators with defined duties in death investigations, which is why billing the county for routine body transport was improper. That boundary matters in Quitman County, where residents rely on the coroner’s office to handle deaths with accuracy and dignity, not as a source of extra public money.
State Auditor Shad White said his investigators work tirelessly to uncover cases like this and will continue working with prosecutors on taxpayer-fraud cases. His office said suspected fraud can be reported through its hotline or website, a reminder that oversight often begins only after someone outside the county office steps in.
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