Final Burr Oak Scandal Defendant Pleads Guilty To Desecrating Graves
BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. (AP) -- The last of four defendants accused of digging up graves, dumping human remains and reselling plots at a suburban Chicago cemetery pleaded guilty Tuesday to the charges.
Maurice Dailey, who was a backhoe operator at Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip, pleaded guilty to desecration, removal of buried remains and removal of headstone charges.
Prosecutors said the desecration at the historic cemetery occurred between 2003 and 2009. The graveyard contains the burial sites of lynching victim Emmett Till, blues singers Willie Dixon and Dinah Washington and former heavyweight boxing champion Ezzard Charles.
Prosecutors say the scheme was masterminded by the cemetery's then-director, Carolyn Towns, and was prompted by the belief the facility was becoming overcrowded. Towns is serving a 12-year sentence.
Two brothers also have been convicted, with 51-year-old Keith Nicks sentenced to six years in prison and 44-year-old Terrance Nicks to three years in prison.
The men took advantage of the unmarked graves in the cemetery, according to prosecutors, and often "double stacked" graves on top of each other without telling the families.
Prosecutors contended Keith Nicks, the cemetery's grounds foreman, directed his brother and Dailey to illegally double-stack graves and throw human remains on a mound of debris in the back of the cemetery.
Sentencing for the 64-year-old Dailey is scheduled for Aug. 28.
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