Michael Naughton, of Baldwin, ran unlicensed funeral home in Westchester, keeping deceased in chapels, garage, AG's office charges

A Baldwin man was indicted on charges he was operating as an unlicensed funeral home director after authorities inspecting a Mt. Vernon funeral home discovered 13 bodies in various states of decomposition and 17 boxes of cremated remains, state prosecutors said.

Michael Naughton, 55, operating out of Camelot Funeral Home, was named in a 20-count indictment unsealed Wednesday by prosecutors from New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office.

The Legal Aid Society of Westchester County, identified in court papers as his defense, declined to comment. Naughton pleaded not guilty to the charges in Westchester County Court, records show. He couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday.

The indictment charges Naughton with nine misdemeanor counts of unlicensed practicing as a funeral director, nine felony counts of grand larceny or attempted grand larceny along with two more felonies: one of a scheme to defraud and one of criminal possession of a forged instrument — a burial transmit permit, the document authorizing the transfer of a deceased person to the place of burial or disposition.

Names of the deceased and of alleged victims are redacted in the document. All of the alleged criminal acts took place between December 2025 and January 2026, court papers said.

"Naughton heartlessly took advantage of New Yorkers while knowingly operating his funeral home without a license and failed to take proper care of the remains in his possession," James said in a news release.

According to the release, Naughton’s funeral directing license was revoked by the Department of Health’s Bureau of Funeral Directing in 2019. But when bureau inspectors conducted an unannounced inspection of Camelot in January, they found bodies "in various states of decomposition throughout the facility, including six bodies located in the chapels and three bodies in the detached garage — two of which were stacked on top of one another," according to the release.

A phone number for Camelot did not accept calls Wednesday afternoon.

An investigation by James’ office later revealed evidence that Naughton had allegedly defrauded New Yorkers of thousands of dollars by claiming to be a licensed funeral director at Camelot. Naughton allegedly negotiated prices and entered into contracts for funeral services, arranged for transport of decedents, presided over funeral services and oversaw the disposition of bodily and cremated remains — all of which he was not permitted to do without a funeral directing license, according to the release.

A representative from the attorney general’s office said that 12 of the 13 bodies have been identified. The representative said that unlicensed practice of funeral directing was infrequently charged.

James’ office is working with the Westchester County Medical Examiner’s Office to identify and return the remains recovered from Camelot to their relatives. Her office has set up an email address for anyone who believes they were impacted by the scheme: camelot.complaint@ag.ny.gov.

Naughton is also a defendant in a Mount Vernon City Court case in which he was charged with funeral directing without a license, according to online court records. Mount Vernon city police arrested him on that charge Jan. 30 and he pleaded not guilty at a Feb. 4 arraignment. His lawyer in that case, Matthew Gil Perrone, could not be reached.

Meg Geroux, a spokeswoman for the New York State Funeral Directors Association, said  "We were disheartened and angered on behalf of the impacted families and hope they find peace. We thank Attorney General James and applaud the NYS Department of Health and its Bureau of Funeral Directing for holding Mr. Naughton accountable for his unlawful and harmful actions."

By Nicholas Spangler

nicholas.spangler@newsday.comspanglernewsday

Nicholas Spangler is a general assignment reporter and has worked at Newsday since 2010.