Lincoln funeral home owner faces 14 felony theft charges

An embattled Lincoln funeral home director is now charged with 14 felony counts of theft.
Harold “Chip” Lamson Jr., 53, was indicted by a grand jury Wednesday on 14 counts of theft by unauthorized taking in Penobscot County Superior Court.
Lamson  was arrested May 20 and originally charged with four felony counts Aug. 8. More charges were added during the grand jury indictment.
Most of the charges stem from Lamson allegedly keeping money in mortuary trusts. In one case, a trust of $3,981 should have been paid to a North Carolina funeral home, following the death of a woman who used to live in Maine.
The family of the deceased woman called Lamson six times to request the money be transferred to the North Carolina funeral home. It never was and the family had to pay, according to the affidavit.
In another case, Lamson allegedly kept money from the trust despite telling the family the money was being used for a footstone, according to the affidavit. The family called the engraver and learned the stone had never been ordered. Lamson never returned the money, despite multiple calls.
This spring, t he Maine Board of Funeral Services revoked Lamson’s funeral practitioner license for five years. In a consent agreement, he admitted “without dispute” to more than 60 violations of the board’s statutes, rules and code of ethics dating back to 2022.
The board suspended Lamson’s license as a funeral home director in June after he allegedly violated the consent agreement. In part, he allegedly was late and incomplete in reporting to the board and failed to return documents that were removed from the funeral home, preventing a comprehensive audit.
Lamson was first licensed in 1995. He is prohibited from seeking any funeral home-related licenses for the next three years, at which time he can apply to have his license reinstated.