'Not enough': Alleged unlicensed funeral director gets probation in Harris County forgery case

Alleged unlicensed funeral director gets probation in forgery case

A convicted felon was just sentenced to deferred probation while being accused of performing funerals without a license. FOX 26's Randy Wallace spoke to officials and accusers about the case.

HARRIS COUNTY - A 27-year-old convicted felon who is accused of defrauding people while working as an unlicensed funeral director gets a sweetheart deal from the courthouse.

The District Attorney's office says all the victims in Javian Major's forgery case supported his no-jail-time probated sentence.

But some who've dealt with Major see it as a slap in the face.

Alleged funeral fraudster gets probation

What they're saying:

"Javian Major basically played the system like a fiddle," said Andy Kahan of Crime Stoppers, "But the system allowed him to play it like a fiddle."

Major has a lengthy criminal history that spans three Texas counties and Louisiana,

Precinct 1 Constable Alan Rosen's office spent six months investigating Major for allegedly performing funerals without a funeral director's license.

"Bodies being put in garages and not being properly cooled at the right temperature, and all the various things that we were seeing," Rosen said. "It was pretty egregious because you're hitting somebody at their most vulnerable time in their lives."

One of Major's bond conditions prohibited him from working as a funeral director. 

One mother who says Major performed the funeral for her late son tells FOX 26 that she heard he was still performing funerals.

"I got tips from other people telling me, ‘Hey, he’s doing funerals. He's at this location right here, doing funerals,'" said Pamela Busby.

Another witness says she saw Major perform another funeral.

"This was literally on the news four days ago, and this funeral is occurring today," said Cherrelle Davis.

What we know:

After the alleged victims wrote to the court telling them Major was still performing funerals, a motion was filed to raise Major's bond amount. But when Major appeared in court on Wednesday, he pled guilty to forgery and was sentenced to two years' deferred probation.

"Not enough," said Constable Rosen. "We are going to be talking to the DA's office and find out specifically what happened."

There's no condition to Major's probation that prohibits him from working in the funeral industry,

Major is already on probation in Louisiana. 

The other side:

In a response, Major's attorney says both the state and defense reached a fair agreement.