ALSIP, Illinois (CNN) -- Four people face felony charges after authorities discovered that hundreds of graves were dug up and allegedly resold at a historic African-American cemetery near Chicago, Illinois, authorities said Thursday.
Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said the four would resell the plots in Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip, excavate the graves, dump the remains and pocket the cash.
"This was not done in a very, very delicate way, folks," he told reporters at a news conference Thursday.
"They would excavate a grave and would proceed to dump the remains wherever they found a place to do it in the back of the cemetery. This was not moving graves; this was not replacing graves; this was dumping of them."
In some cases, graves were stacked on top of each other, they "literally pounded the other one down," Dart said. In all about 300 graves may have been dug up in the cemetery, he said.
Authorities identified those charged as Carolyn Towns, an office manager for the cemetery; and Keith Nicks, Terrance Nicks and Maurice Daley, all gravediggers.
Each has been charged with dismembering a human body, a felony charge for which sentences range from 6 to 30 years, Anita Alvarez, Cook County state's attorney, said at the news conference.
Steven Watkins, an attorney for Towns, said his client is innocent. "Somebody is apparently making false accusations against my client," he said. "She's maintaining her innocence."
The Cook County state attorney's office said the other three charged were being represented by the public defender's office, and a message left at that office was not immediately returned.
Bail was set at $250,000 for Towns and $200,000 for the other three, Alvarez said. None had posted bail by late afternoon Thursday, the sheriff's department said. Watch officials announce the charges »
It was not immediately known if the four had legal counsel.
Authorities began investigating the cemetery -- where, among others, lynching victim Emmett Till, blues legend Dinah Washington and some Negro League baseball players are buried -- about six weeks ago after receiving a call from its owners who had concerns about possible "financial irregularities" regarding the business, Dart told CNN earlier this week.
"This crime, it's a whole new dimension," Alvarez said. Authorities also suspect that Towns pretended to set up a memorial fund for Till and pocketed the funds, Dart said. Watch sheriff discuss gruesome revelation »
He told CNN that groundskeepers, who have not been implicated in the scheme, have said that the grave of Till -- whose 1955 lynching at age 14 helped spark the civil rights movement -- has not been disturbed.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson, who was also at the news conference, noted the high-profile names of some of those buried in the cemetery, but said, "everybody here is special, and every family has special needs and special hurt, special grief."
Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said the four would resell the plots in Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip, excavate the graves, dump the remains and pocket the cash.
"This was not done in a very, very delicate way, folks," he told reporters at a news conference Thursday.
"They would excavate a grave and would proceed to dump the remains wherever they found a place to do it in the back of the cemetery. This was not moving graves; this was not replacing graves; this was dumping of them."
In some cases, graves were stacked on top of each other, they "literally pounded the other one down," Dart said. In all about 300 graves may have been dug up in the cemetery, he said.
Authorities identified those charged as Carolyn Towns, an office manager for the cemetery; and Keith Nicks, Terrance Nicks and Maurice Daley, all gravediggers.
Each has been charged with dismembering a human body, a felony charge for which sentences range from 6 to 30 years, Anita Alvarez, Cook County state's attorney, said at the news conference.
Steven Watkins, an attorney for Towns, said his client is innocent. "Somebody is apparently making false accusations against my client," he said. "She's maintaining her innocence."
The Cook County state attorney's office said the other three charged were being represented by the public defender's office, and a message left at that office was not immediately returned.
Bail was set at $250,000 for Towns and $200,000 for the other three, Alvarez said. None had posted bail by late afternoon Thursday, the sheriff's department said. Watch officials announce the charges »
It was not immediately known if the four had legal counsel.
Authorities began investigating the cemetery -- where, among others, lynching victim Emmett Till, blues legend Dinah Washington and some Negro League baseball players are buried -- about six weeks ago after receiving a call from its owners who had concerns about possible "financial irregularities" regarding the business, Dart told CNN earlier this week.
"This crime, it's a whole new dimension," Alvarez said. Authorities also suspect that Towns pretended to set up a memorial fund for Till and pocketed the funds, Dart said. Watch sheriff discuss gruesome revelation »
He told CNN that groundskeepers, who have not been implicated in the scheme, have said that the grave of Till -- whose 1955 lynching at age 14 helped spark the civil rights movement -- has not been disturbed.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson, who was also at the news conference, noted the high-profile names of some of those buried in the cemetery, but said, "everybody here is special, and every family has special needs and special hurt, special grief."
