A court date has been postponed for the second time in the case of a funeral home director accused of scamming pet owners by taking money for cremation and instead disposing of the animals in landfills.
Patrick Vereb, 71, of Hazelwood, now is scheduled for trial Oct. 19 before Judge Jaime Hickton in Allegheny County Court. Jury selection is set to begin Oct. 15.
Vereb owned a funeral home and pet crematory in Harrison and one in Hazelwood.
He is charged by the state Attorney General’s Office in April 2025 with deceiving more than 6,500 people out of pet funeral service. In addition to being accused of tossing animals in the trash, Vereb also is accused of giving customers ashes from pets that weren’t theirs.
Vereb faces felony charges of theft by deception, receiving stolen property and deceptive business practices.
He was originally scheduled for a non-jury trial in January. That got changed to a jury trial scheduled for June 3.
It’s unclear why the June date was canceled.
Vereb’s attorney, Louis Emmi, did not return TribLive calls seeking comment.
The Attorney General’s Office declined to comment.