Former Lakewood Cemetery crematorium manager pleads guilty to theft for medical debris sales

The former manager of Lakewood Cemetery’s crematorium has pleaded guilty to theft for selling medical detritus left after cremations.

Timothy Flanigan netted $306,500 by selling the remnants to metal recyclers from 2016 to 2021. Flanigan considered scorched metal joints and the like as trash.

But Lakewood, a landmark cemetery in south Minneapolis, regarded the metal as stolen property. The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office agreed, charging Flanigan with theft by swindle last May.

Flanigan pleaded guilty to that charge this month before Hennepin County District Judge Marta Chou. Under his plea agreement, Flanigan, 67, will avoid prison and his 42-month sentence will be stayed while on probation for five years, according to a court document. Sentencing is set for early May.

The agreement calls for Flanigan to complete 2,080 hours of community service. He also will be responsible for restitution of the $306,500 and payment of $90,178 in Lakewood’s attorney fees, according to a court document.

Flanigan began working at Lakewood in 1984. He ran its crematorium for several years until retiring in 2021 and moving to Texas.

During the cremation process, ashes are run past magnets and through sieves to remove metal or other nonorganic material. At Lakewood, this waste was long tossed into a dumpster. In 2016, Flanigan began selling metal debris to refiners, keeping the proceeds.

Such recycling has become commonplace in the last decade with the rising number of cremations. Crematoria most often give recycling proceeds to charity, though they can keep the money.

Lakewood had no formal policy on the matter when Flanigan worked there.

Chou wrote in a November order that Flanigan told Lakewood employees that he would donate the money from metal sales to charity.

At his March 5 plea hearing, Flanigan acknowledged that he would “deflect, lie or lie through omission” to Lakewood employees about proceeds from metal sales.

Last fall, Flanigan lost a bid to dismiss the theft charge for lack of probable cause, noting that taking trash is not illegal.

Lakewood said in a civil court filing that it did not uncover Flanigan’s illicit sales until after he retired.

Since then, Lakewood has adopted a formal policy on medical debris recycling. The nonprofit cemetery association says it donates recycling income to charitable organizations that serve people who have experienced tragic losses.