HONESDALE, PA — Moira Richey, 53, has been sentenced to 60 days to 18 months in the Wayne County Correctional Facility. Richey pleaded guilty on March 9, 2018 to one count of theft and one count of abuse of a corpse, both misdemeanors.

Richey, a former New York City police officer was arrested in August 2017, two months after the body of her mother, Patricia Richey, was found in the Harvest Inn Bed & Breakfast in Honesdale.

Pennsylvania State Police at Honesdale said in May of that year, Moira forged her mother’s signature and withdrew money from her account, after Patricia had died.

Moira had been living with her mother’s corpse on the third floor of the B&B and had refused to let the owner of the facility into the rooms for months. At one point, however, she asked to be allowed to sleep in a different room because of breathing issues. Finally, the owner demanded to be allowed into the room, and the body was discovered.

Authorities say that Patricia had been dead for months, and Moira had used air fresheners to disguise the smell. They say that the body was too badly decomposed to determine the cause of death, although it was determined that Patricia had suffered broken ribs.

Patrick L. Robinson, Wayne County District Attorney said in a press release, “As to the charge of Abuse of the Corpse of Patricia Richey it is clear that based on the autopsy of Patricia Richey and on additional circumstantial evidence that the defendant, Moria Ann Richey, hid the death of her mother from her landlord for several months prior to the discovery of Patricia Richey’s decaying body on June 23, 2017.”

The press release said Moria was scheduled to be sentenced on May 3, 2018. She checked into a Scranton hospital on the morning of May 3, 2018. Senior Judge Raymond L. Hamill then issued a warrant for her arrest. She was arrested on May 3, 2018, and returned to Wayne County for the Sentencing Hearing.

Robinson said, “This is a very unusual and disturbing case. Ultimately it is a very sad case. Obviously, the defendant in this case is a disturbed individual with mental health issues. I believe the sentence imposed by Senior Judge Hamill was appropriate given the defendant’s mental health issues.”