Former Downard owner Lance Peck's legal woes continue
Not only could Peck, 49, of
FEDERATED MUTUAL INSURANCE LAWSUIT
In a lawsuit filed against Peck last year, his former insurance provider,
The lawsuit states that “this action stems from thirteen underlying matters brought against (Peck) by family members of deceased individuals arising out of (Peck’s) alleged misconduct relating to funeral, burial and/or final disposition services for the respective decedents between 2019 to 2021.”
The suit lists Peck, his wife Diane, a limited liability company that was shared by the couple before it was administratively dissolved, as well as
The lawsuit was initially filed in
The insurance company's lawsuit says the
Specifically, the
“Defendants have not tendered the criminal action to Federated under the Federated policies and Federated has no obligation under the policies to defend or indemnify defendants for the criminal actions,” the suit states. “The allegations in certain counts of the criminal action, however, factually overlap with and/or relate to the allegations brought in the underlying matters, which are all civil matters.”
In addition to asking that the court declare that there is no insurance coverage available to Peck, of which all of his annual policies included
In February, the federal judge handling the Federated lawsuit put the case on hold pending the adjudication of Peck’s criminal cases, which remain ongoing.
CRIMINAL ALLEGATIONS AGAINST PECK
Peck faces a litany of both misdemeanor and felony charges in connection to his operation of
Peck was charged in
At least 25 families either didn’t receive any cremated remains or received the wrong cremated remains from Peck during his operation of the funeral home that was formerly located at
The felony charges are in addition to 48 misdemeanor charges Peck currently faces stemming from a
Peck was initially arrested and charged with 63 misdemeanors in
In January, 15 of the 60 misdemeanor counts of unprofessional conduct by morticians, funeral directors or embalmers were dismissed after
DENIED MOTION FOR ATTORNEY AT PUBLIC’S EXPENSE
Mention of the Federated lawsuit was contained within a
Peck submitted two different applications for a public defender before Gabiola ruled on the matter.
“In reviewing (Peck’s) second application, the court notes that the defendant is not employed and has no current income, outside that of his spouse's income,” Gabiola wrote. “The court also acknowledges that (Peck) is currently involved in other legal actions and could be, but is not currently, financially liable in those cases.”
The order from Gabiola states that in his applications, Peck represented that the assets he and his wife Diane have currently include
“The court may consider that (Peck) attempted to use his property interest as collateral in obtaining a loan to pay for counsel,” Gabiola wrote. “However, there were only a couple of attempts with
Gabiola, in denying the applications, stated that Peck “has not met his burden to show that he is currently indigent.” In spite of the ruling and Peck’s apparent inability to continue paying for representation, Peck’s
When contacted for this article, Blok declined to comment.
LAWSUIT RELATED TO UNPAID FINES FOR MORTICIAN’S LICENSE
In addition to the lawsuits filed by over a dozen families and Peck’s former insurance provider, a collection agency working on behalf of the
The suit filed in February by
The civil complaint
The amount includes a principal figure of
The civil suit does not contain any other details related to the fine or explain why it was levied against Peck.
When reached for comment, the Idaho DOPL declined to provide specifics of the potential disciplinary actions Peck may have faced related to his business license. The DOPL cited an
When asked to comment on the status of the lawsuit or why it was filed, the DOPL declined, citing a policy not to comment on pending litigation.
Tolson filed a response to the civil suit on Peck’s behalf on
Three of those civil suits that were filed in state court have since been dismissed with prejudice, meaning they cannot be refiled, and all but the Action Collection Service Inc. suit have currently been put on hold until the criminal allegations against Peck are resolved.
Gabiola on
Peck’s attorney and
Peck is due back in state court in front of Gabiola for a status conference update regarding his criminal matters on
If convicted of all the current felony charges and the sentences are ordered to be served consecutively, Peck faces a maximum penalty of 227 years in prison and a fine of up to
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