Alabama Funeral Home Secretary Forges Document

A secretary at Anniston Funeral Services Inc. faces a January trial on felony charges of notarizing a forged document, Calhoun County sheriff’s deputies said Thursday.

Deputies arrested Anniston resident Venetta Patrice Rives on a charge of possession of a forged instrument Wednesday, after a funeral home client claimed he never signed a document that Rives had notarized.

Rives is the latest of several Anniston Funeral Services employees and associates to face legal trouble within the past year.

Funeral home owner Jeffery Williams has been arrested six times this year, on felony and misdemeanor charges of theft, assault, bond revocations and, most recently, refusing to surrender a corpse.

All of Williams’ theft charges involve variations of the same basic allegation — stealing insurance money from or overcharging his bereaved clients.

Amerson said deputies were looking for Williams Thursday evening to interview him about circumstances surrounding his secretary’s arrest.

Amerson declined to disclose what those circumstances were or whether Rives’ forgery charge has anything to do with the past theft charges against Williams.

He also declined to comment on whether any more recent charges have been brought against Williams, saying he did not want to jeopardize deputies’ investigation of Rives and that more information would be available later.

Amerson confirmed that Anniston Funeral Services was still open and providing business to its clients, in spite of the slew of criminal and civil charges against its employees.

He said it’s up to the Alabama Board of Funeral Services, which oversees funeral home operations across the state, to make decisions about the business’ license.

Rives was free on a $10,000 bond and will go to court on her charge Jan. 27.

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