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{{Infobox Person
{{Infobox Person
|name = Brent Douglas Cassity
|name = Brent Douglas Cassity
|birth_date = 1970
|image = brent-cassity.png
|birth_date = circa 1967
|birth_place = St. Louis, Missouri
|birth_place = St. Louis, Missouri
|charges = Mail fraud, Wire fraud, Money laundering, Permitting a felon to engage in insurance business
|charges = Mail fraud, Wire fraud, Money laundering, Permitting a felon to engage in the insurance business
|conviction_date = July 3, 2013
|conviction_date = March 2013 (guilty plea)
|sentence = 5 years
|sentence = 5 years (60 months) federal prison
|sentencing_date = November 2013
|restitution = Part of $435 million joint judgment
|facility = USP Leavenworth
|facility = USP Leavenworth
|status = Released
|status = Released
|occupation = Author, podcast host
|known_for = National Prearranged Services fraud; ''Nightmare Success'' memoir and podcast
}}
}}
'''Brent Douglas Cassity''' (born circa 1970) is an American former business executive and convicted fraudster who served five years in federal prison for his role in the National Prearranged Services (NPS) scandal that defrauded over 97,000 victims of approximately $435 million.<ref name="doj-sentence">U.S. Department of Justice, "Six Defendants Sentenced To Total Of 36 Years In Prison In National Prearranged Services Case," November 14, 2013, https://www.justice.gov/usao-edmo/pr/six-defendants-sentenced-total-36-years-prison-national-prearranged-services-case.</ref> Cassity, who served as an officer of NPS alongside his father James "Doug" Cassity, pleaded guilty in 2013 to mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, and willfully permitting a felon to engage in the insurance business. The scheme, which operated from 1992 to 2008, sold prearranged funeral contracts to customers across multiple states while systematically misappropriating funds that were supposed to be held in trust or insurance policies.<ref name="fbi-guilty">FBI Archives, "Former Employee of National Prearranged Services Inc. and Lincoln Memorial Life Insurance Company Brent Cassity Pleads Guilty to Fraud and Money Laundering Charges," 2013, https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/stlouis/press-releases/2013/former-employee-of-national-prearranged-services-inc.-and-lincoln-memorial-life-insurance-company-brent-cassity-pleads-guilty-to-fraud-and-money-laundering-charges.</ref> Following his release, Cassity authored a memoir and launched the Nightmare Success podcast.


== Summary ==
'''Brent Douglas Cassity''' is an American former funeral-industry executive convicted in the National Prearranged Services fraud. He pleaded guilty in 2013 to mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, and willfully permitting a convicted felon to engage in the business of insurance. A federal court in St. Louis sentenced him to five years in prison.<ref name="connecting-sentence">{{cite web |title=National Prearranged Services Crooks Finally Get Prison Sentence |url=https://connectingdirectors.com/42973-national-prearranged-services-crooks-finally-get-prison-sentence |publisher=Connecting Directors |date=2013-11-18 |access-date=2026-06-03}}</ref>


The National Prearranged Services fraud was one of the largest consumer protection failures in the American funeral industry. For nearly two decades, the Cassity family and their associates sold prearranged funeral contracts to families seeking to plan and pay for funerals in advance, representing that funds would be held in trust or insurance policies as required by state law. Instead, the NPS enterprise operated as a Ponzi-like scheme, using incoming customer payments to fund unauthorized purposes, including personal enrichment of company officers, rather than safeguarding the money for its intended purpose.<ref name="doj-sentence" />
National Prearranged Services, based in the St. Louis area, sold prepaid funeral contracts. Customers paid in advance so their families would not face funeral costs later. State law required the money to sit in trust accounts or backed insurance policies. Prosecutors said NPS did not hold the funds that way. The company spent customer money on company officers, operating costs, and payouts to earlier customers. Federal filings described it as a Ponzi-like scheme that ran for more than fifteen years before collapsing in 2008.<ref name="fbi-guilty">{{cite web |title=Former Employee of National Prearranged Services Inc. and Lincoln Memorial Life Insurance Company Brent Cassity Pleads Guilty to Fraud and Money Laundering Charges |url=https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/stlouis/press-releases/2013/former-employee-of-national-prearranged-services-inc.-and-lincoln-memorial-life-insurance-company-brent-cassity-pleads-guilty-to-fraud-and-money-laundering-charges |publisher=Federal Bureau of Investigation |date=2013 |access-date=2026-06-03}}</ref><ref name="connecting-sentence" />


The fraud affected over 97,000 victims—including individual customers who had paid in advance for their funerals, funeral homes that had contracted with NPS, insurance companies, and financial institutions. When NPS collapsed in 2008, thousands of families discovered that the funeral arrangements they had paid for years earlier could not be honored. Many were required to pay again for funerals they had already purchased.<ref name="fox2-sentence">FOX 2 St. Louis, "Prearranged funeral scammers sentenced to a total of 36 years," November 2013, https://fox2now.com/news/fox-files/prearranged-funeral-scammers-sentenced-to-a-total-of-36-years/.</ref>
More than 97,000 victims lost money. The group included individual customers, funeral homes, insurers, and financial institutions across at least sixteen states. Total losses ran past $450 million.<ref name="fox2-sentence">{{cite web |title=Prearranged funeral scammers sentenced to a total of 36 years |url=https://fox2now.com/news/fox-files/prearranged-funeral-scammers-sentenced-to-a-total-of-36-years/ |publisher=FOX 2 St. Louis |date=2013-11 |access-date=2026-06-03}}</ref> Brent Cassity served his term at the United States Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas. After his release he wrote a memoir and started a podcast, both titled ''Nightmare Success''.<ref name="brentcassity-site">{{cite web |title=Brent Cassity — Author, Speaker & Podcast Host |url=https://brentcassity.com/ |publisher=BrentCassity.com |date=2025 |access-date=2026-06-03}}</ref>
 
Brent Cassity's role in the scheme was subordinate to that of his father Doug Cassity, who masterminded the operation. As an officer of NPS and its affiliated insurance companies, Brent Cassity participated in the fraud and benefited from the misappropriated funds. His five-year sentence reflected his level of involvement, shorter than his father's nine-year-and-seven-month term.<ref name="stltoday-sentence">St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "Funeral scam figures get prison sentences in St. Louis federal court," November 2013, https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-courts/funeral-scam-figures-get-prison-sentences-in-st-louis-federal/article_68f2e563-bd91-55a4-a2e7-d202ac157df8.html.</ref>


== Background ==
== Background ==


=== Family Business Origins ===
Brent Cassity grew up in a St. Louis family that ran a funeral and cemetery business. His father, James "Doug" Cassity, bought National Prearranged Services Inc. in 1979.<ref name="connecting-600">{{cite web |title=NPS Executives Plead Guilty In $600 Million Ponzi Scheme |url=https://connectingdirectors.com/40907-nps-executives-plead-guilty-in-600-million-ponzi-scheme |publisher=Connecting Directors |date=2013 |access-date=2026-06-03}}</ref> The company sat at the center of a cluster of related funeral, cemetery, and insurance entities. Brent Cassity became an officer of NPS and worked alongside his father and brother in the family enterprise.<ref name="fbi-guilty" />
 
The Cassity family's involvement in the funeral industry began when James "Doug" Cassity purchased National Prearranged Services Inc. in 1979. Based in Clayton, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis, NPS initially appeared to be a legitimate business offering prearranged funeral contracts—agreements that allowed customers to plan and pay for funeral services in advance, locking in prices and sparing their families the burden of making arrangements during a time of grief.<ref name="stltoday-guilty">St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "Father, son plead guilty in St. Louis prepaid funeral scam case," 2013, https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-courts/father-son-plead-guilty-in-st-louis-prepaid-funeral-scam-case/article_64cc95bc-a953-5881-a5b5-fe55c3741b65.html.</ref>
 
Brent Cassity grew up in the family business and eventually became an officer of NPS and its affiliated companies, including Lincoln Memorial Life Insurance Company. The family's business model expanded over the years, with NPS selling prearranged funeral contracts in Missouri, Illinois, Ohio, and other states, while affiliated insurance companies issued life insurance policies tied to those contracts.<ref name="fbi-guilty" />
 
=== The Business Model ===
 
Under state laws governing prearranged funeral contracts, companies like NPS were required to hold customer funds in trust or purchase insurance policies to guarantee that the money would be available to pay for funerals when customers died. These consumer protection requirements existed precisely because of the unique vulnerability of prearranged funeral customers—typically elderly individuals who might not live to see whether their contracts were honored.<ref name="doj-sentence" />
 
NPS represented to customers, funeral homes, and state regulators that it was complying with these requirements. In reality, the company was systematically violating them, diverting customer funds for unauthorized purposes while maintaining the appearance of legitimacy through fraudulent financial statements and regulatory filings.<ref name="fbi-guilty" />
 
== Indictment, Prosecution, and Sentencing ==
 
=== The Fraud Scheme ===
 
Federal prosecutors established that beginning as early as 1992 and continuing until NPS's collapse in 2008, the company operated as a fraudulent Ponzi-like scheme. Customer funds that were supposed to be held securely in trust or insurance policies were instead used for unauthorized purposes, including:
 
* Personal enrichment of NPS officers and the Cassity family
* Funding operating expenses and commissions that should have been paid from legitimate business revenue
* Making payments to earlier customers whose policies came due—the classic hallmark of a Ponzi scheme
* Investments and expenditures unrelated to the company's funeral business obligations<ref name="doj-sentence" />


The scheme required constant deception of multiple parties. Individual customers were told their funds were secure. Funeral homes that partnered with NPS believed the company would honor its contracts. State insurance regulators received fraudulent financial statements suggesting the company was solvent. And insurance companies affiliated with NPS, including Lincoln Memorial Life Insurance Company, were used as vehicles to facilitate the fraud rather than provide genuine protection for customer funds.<ref name="fbi-guilty" />
He has said he first visited his father in a federal prison as a teenager. Doug Cassity had an earlier securities-fraud conviction. Decades later Brent Cassity entered the same federal system as a defendant.<ref name="brentcassity-site" />


=== Collapse and Investigation ===
Brent Cassity helped run the family's funeral operation as it expanded. By his own account the business grew from a handful of states to more than twenty.<ref name="2ndopp">{{cite web |title=From Rock Bottom to a New Beginning: Brent Cassity's Journey |url=https://www.2ndopp.com/post/from-rock-bottom-to-a-new-beginning-brent-cassity-s-journey |publisher=2nd Opportunity |date=2024 |access-date=2026-06-03}}</ref> One affiliated insurer, Lincoln Memorial Life Insurance Company, issued policies tied to the prepaid funeral contracts. The DOJ later named both NPS and Lincoln Memorial in the criminal case.<ref name="fbi-guilty" />


The fraud unraveled in 2008 when NPS could no longer sustain its Ponzi-like operations. As with all such schemes, the company eventually ran out of new money to pay old obligations. The collapse triggered investigations by state insurance regulators and ultimately by federal authorities.<ref name="stltoday-civil">St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "Civil trial starts in suit over $500 million fraud by prepaid funeral company in Clayton," https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/civil-trial-starts-in-suit-over-500-million-fraud-by-prepaid-funeral-company-in-clayton/article_ab87bd8d-345c-5e40-aeb8-ad22aa8ec2e4.html.</ref>
=== How prepaid funeral contracts work ===


The investigation revealed the full scope of the fraud: more than 97,000 victims, approximately $435 million in losses, and a scheme that had operated for nearly two decades while evading regulatory detection.<ref name="fox2-sentence" />
A prepaid funeral contract lets a customer plan and pay for a funeral before death. The buyer locks in services and prices. The seller is supposed to set the money aside until the funeral happens.


=== Guilty Pleas ===
State laws set rules for that money. A company can hold it in a regulated trust account. A company can also buy a life insurance policy that pays out when the customer dies. Either way the funds must stay available for the funeral. Many buyers are older. Regulators built the rules around that fact. Prosecutors said NPS told customers, funeral homes, and state regulators that it followed these rules. It did not.<ref name="fbi-guilty" />


In 2013, Brent Cassity pleaded guilty to mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, and willfully permitting a felon to engage in the insurance business. The last charge related to the involvement of individuals with prior felony convictions in NPS's insurance operations. His father, James "Doug" Cassity, then 67, pleaded guilty to similar charges.<ref name="stltoday-guilty" />
== National Prearranged Services Fraud ==


The guilty pleas came as part of a broader prosecution that ultimately resulted in six defendants being sentenced to a combined total of 36 years in federal prison. Besides Brent and Doug Cassity, other defendants included NPS executives and associates who had participated in various aspects of the scheme.<ref name="doj-sentence" />
Federal prosecutors said the fraud ran from the early 1990s until NPS collapsed in 2008. Money that should have stayed in trusts or insurance reserves went elsewhere.<ref name="fbi-guilty" /> Court records described several uses for the diverted funds:


=== Sentencing ===
* Personal enrichment of company officers and the Cassity family
* Operating costs and sales commissions that legitimate revenue should have covered
* Payments to earlier customers whose contracts came due, the core mechanic of a Ponzi scheme
* Investments and spending unrelated to the funeral obligations<ref name="connecting-sentence" />


On November 14, 2013, Brent Cassity was sentenced in federal court in St. Louis to 60 months (five years) in federal prison. He was also ordered to pay restitution as part of the overall $435 million restitution judgment against the NPS defendants.<ref name="doj-sentence" />
The scheme required steady deception of several groups. Customers were told their prepaid funds sat in trust. Funeral homes that signed with NPS believed the company would honor its contracts. State insurance regulators received financial statements that hid the shortfall. Lincoln Memorial and other affiliated insurers did not provide the protection customers thought they had paid for.<ref name="fbi-guilty" />


His father, Doug Cassity, received a significantly longer sentence of nine years and seven months, reflecting his role as the mastermind of the scheme.<ref name="stltoday-sentence" />
A judge later called it "an enormous Ponzi scheme."<ref name="connecting-sentence" /> One civil suit over the collapse described losses of roughly $500 million.<ref name="stltoday-civil">{{cite web |title=Civil trial starts in suit over $500 million fraud by prepaid funeral company in Clayton |url=https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/civil-trial-starts-in-suit-over-500-million-fraud-by-prepaid-funeral-company-in-clayton/article_ab87bd8d-345c-5e40-aeb8-ad22aa8ec2e4.html |publisher=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |date=2013 |access-date=2026-06-03}}</ref>


== Prison Experience ==
=== Collapse and investigation ===


Brent Cassity served his sentence at United States Penitentiary Leavenworth, a medium-security federal prison in Kansas. The facility, one of the oldest federal prisons in the country, houses approximately 1,500 male inmates. He completed his sentence and was released after serving the full term of his imprisonment.
NPS ran out of new money to cover old obligations. The structure failed in 2008. State insurance regulators and federal authorities opened investigations.<ref name="stltoday-civil" /> Investigators put the victim count above 97,000 and the losses past $450 million. The conduct had continued for more than fifteen years.<ref name="fox2-sentence" /><ref name="connecting-sentence" />


== Post-Release Activities ==
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and other agencies built the criminal case. Prosecutors charged six people connected to NPS and its affiliated companies.<ref name="connecting-sentence" />


=== "Nightmare Success" Memoir ===
== Charges and Sentencing ==


Following his release, Brent Cassity authored a memoir titled "Nightmare Success" in which he presented his account of the NPS scandal and his experience in the federal prison system.
=== Guilty pleas ===


=== Nightmare Success Podcast ===
In 2013, Brent Cassity pleaded guilty to mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, and willfully permitting a felon to engage in the business of insurance. The last count concerned people with prior felony convictions who took part in the insurance operation. His father, Doug Cassity, then 67, pleaded guilty hours earlier to a similar set of charges and admitted that he organized and led the enterprise.<ref name="stltoday-guilty">{{cite web |title=Father, son plead guilty in St. Louis prepaid funeral scam case |url=https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-courts/father-son-plead-guilty-in-st-louis-prepaid-funeral-scam/article_64cc95bc-a953-5881-a5b5-fe55c3741b65.html |publisher=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |date=2013 |access-date=2026-06-03}}</ref>


Cassity hosts the Nightmare Success podcast, which has become one of the largest and longest-running prison-focused podcasts. The show has featured more than 200 guests who share their experiences of overcoming personal and professional setbacks, including former inmates, entrepreneurs, and others who have rebuilt their lives after adversity.<ref name="nightmare-podcast">Nightmare Success Podcast, https://nightmaresuccess.com/.</ref>
The pleas were part of a larger case. Six defendants pleaded guilty to roles in the scheme.<ref name="connecting-sentence" />


== Impact on the Funeral Industry ==
=== Sentences ===


The NPS scandal prompted increased scrutiny of the prearranged funeral industry and the regulatory frameworks designed to protect consumers. The case highlighted vulnerabilities in state-level oversight of funeral trusts and preneed insurance products, as NPS had managed to evade detection for nearly two decades despite operating in multiple states with different regulatory regimes.<ref name="connecting-directors">Connecting Directors, "National Prearranged Services Crooks Finally Get Prison Sentence," 2013, https://connectingdirectors.com/42973-national-prearranged-services-crooks-finally-get-prison-sentence.</ref>
The court sentenced the six defendants in November 2013.<ref name="connecting-sentence" /> Brent Cassity received 60 months, or five years, in federal prison. The court tied his restitution to a joint judgment of about $435 million against the NPS defendants.<ref name="connecting-sentence" /> Doug Cassity received nine years and seven months, the term that reflected his role as the leader.<ref name="connecting-sentence" />


Consumer advocates used the NPS case to push for stronger protections for preneed funeral purchasers, including more rigorous auditing requirements for funeral trusts and better coordination among state regulators to detect multi-state schemes. The case also served as a cautionary tale for consumers considering prearranged funeral purchases, highlighting the importance of researching companies' financial stability and regulatory compliance before entrusting them with funds.<ref name="cnbc-greed">CNBC, "Greed Report: Preying on the Dead: Protect Yourself from These Most Evil Scams," July 25, 2016, https://www.cnbc.com/2016/07/25/the-greed-report-preying-on-the-dead-protect-yourself-from-these-most-evil-scams.html.</ref>
The other defendants received the following terms:<ref name="connecting-sentence" />


== Terminology ==
* David Wulf, an investment adviser: ten years
* Randall K. Sutton, the chief financial officer: seven years
* Howard Wittner, the company lawyer: three years
* Sharon Nekol Province, an employee: eighteen months


* '''Prearranged Funeral Contract''': An agreement to plan and pay for funeral services in advance of death, typically offered by funeral homes or specialized companies.
== Incarceration and After ==


* '''Preneed Insurance''': A life insurance policy purchased specifically to fund future funeral expenses, with the funeral provider named as beneficiary.
Brent Cassity served his sentence at the United States Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas. The Leavenworth complex is one of the oldest federal prison sites in the country. He has said he reported to Leavenworth to begin the five-year term.<ref name="brentcassity-site" />


* '''Funeral Trust''': A trust account established to hold funds paid in advance for funeral services, with the money held securely until the funeral is performed.
After his release he wrote a memoir, ''Nightmare Success: Loyalty, Betrayal, Life Behind Bars, Adapting, and Finally Breaking Free''. The book covers the family business, the fraud case, and his time in prison.<ref name="amazon-memoir">{{cite web |title=Nightmare Success: Loyalty, Betrayal, Life Behind Bars, Adapting, and Finally Breaking Free: A Memoir |url=https://www.amazon.com/Nightmare-Success-Betrayal-Adapting-Breaking/dp/1951943961 |publisher=Amazon |date=2022 |access-date=2026-06-03}}</ref><ref name="bn-memoir">{{cite web |title=Nightmare Success: Loyalty, Betrayal, Life Behind Bars, Adapting, and Finally Breaking Free: A Memoir |url=https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/nightmare-success-brent-cassity/1140549775 |publisher=Barnes & Noble |date=2022 |access-date=2026-06-03}}</ref>
 
* '''Ponzi Scheme''': A fraudulent investment operation where returns to earlier investors are paid using capital from newer investors rather than from legitimate profits.
 
== See also ==
 
* Nightmare Success
* White Collar Crime
* Prison Consultants


He also hosts a podcast, ''Nightmare Success In and Out''. The show features interviews with people who have been through the criminal justice system and rebuilt afterward. Guests include former prisoners, advocates, and others who describe reentry and recovery.<ref name="apple-podcast">{{cite web |title=Nightmare Success In and Out |url=https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/nightmare-success-in-and-out/id1588287560 |publisher=Apple Podcasts |date=2025 |access-date=2026-06-03}}</ref><ref name="brentcassity-site" />


== Frequently Asked Questions ==
== Frequently Asked Questions ==
{{FAQSection/Start}}
{{FAQSection/Start}}
{{FAQ|question=What was Brent Cassity convicted of?|answer=Brent Cassity was convicted of mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, and permitting a felon to engage in insurance business for his role in the National Prearranged Services fraud that defrauded over 97,000 victims of $435 million.}}
{{FAQ|question=What was Brent Cassity convicted of?|answer=Brent Cassity pleaded guilty in 2013 to mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, and willfully permitting a felon to engage in the business of insurance. The charges came from his role in the National Prearranged Services prepaid funeral fraud.}}
{{FAQ|question=How long was Brent Cassity's sentence?|answer=Cassity was sentenced to 5 years in federal prison on November 14, 2013. His father Doug Cassity received nine years and seven months.}}
{{FAQ|question=How long was Brent Cassity's sentence?|answer=A federal court in St. Louis sentenced him to five years, or 60 months, in November 2013. His father, Doug Cassity, received nine years and seven months.}}
{{FAQ|question=What was the Cassity family fraud scheme?|answer=The Cassity family operated National Prearranged Services, which sold pre-need funeral contracts from 1992 to 2008 while misappropriating customer funds meant to be held in trust.}}
{{FAQ|question=What was National Prearranged Services?|answer=National Prearranged Services was a St. Louis-area company that sold prepaid funeral contracts. Customers paid in advance, but the company did not hold the funds in trust or insurance as required. It operated as a Ponzi-like scheme for more than fifteen years before collapsing in 2008.}}
{{FAQ|question=Where did Brent Cassity serve his sentence?|answer=Cassity served his federal sentence at USP Leavenworth in Kansas. He has since been released.}}
{{FAQ|question=How many people lost money in the NPS fraud?|answer=More than 97,000 victims lost money, including individual customers, funeral homes, insurers, and financial institutions across at least sixteen states. Total losses ran past $450 million.}}
{{FAQ|question=How much money was involved in the Cassity fraud?|answer=The National Prearranged Services fraud involved approximately $435 million in misappropriated funds and affected over 97,000 victims.}}
{{FAQ|question=Where did Brent Cassity serve his sentence?|answer=He served his five-year sentence at the United States Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas. He has since been released.}}
{{FAQ|question=What does Brent Cassity do now?|answer=He wrote a memoir titled Nightmare Success and hosts a podcast, Nightmare Success In and Out, that interviews people who have been through the criminal justice system and rebuilt their lives.}}
{{FAQSection/End}}
{{FAQSection/End}}


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<references />
<references />


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[[Category:High-Profile_Federal_Offenders]]
[[Category:High-Profile_Federal_Offenders]]
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Latest revision as of 13:31, 3 June 2026

Brent Douglas Cassity
Born: circa 1967
St. Louis, Missouri
Charges: Mail fraud, Wire fraud, Money laundering, Permitting a felon to engage in the insurance business
Sentence: 5 years (60 months) federal prison
Facility: USP Leavenworth
Status: Released


Brent Douglas Cassity is an American former funeral-industry executive convicted in the National Prearranged Services fraud. He pleaded guilty in 2013 to mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, and willfully permitting a convicted felon to engage in the business of insurance. A federal court in St. Louis sentenced him to five years in prison.[1]

National Prearranged Services, based in the St. Louis area, sold prepaid funeral contracts. Customers paid in advance so their families would not face funeral costs later. State law required the money to sit in trust accounts or backed insurance policies. Prosecutors said NPS did not hold the funds that way. The company spent customer money on company officers, operating costs, and payouts to earlier customers. Federal filings described it as a Ponzi-like scheme that ran for more than fifteen years before collapsing in 2008.[2][1]

More than 97,000 victims lost money. The group included individual customers, funeral homes, insurers, and financial institutions across at least sixteen states. Total losses ran past $450 million.[3] Brent Cassity served his term at the United States Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas. After his release he wrote a memoir and started a podcast, both titled Nightmare Success.[4]

Background

Brent Cassity grew up in a St. Louis family that ran a funeral and cemetery business. His father, James "Doug" Cassity, bought National Prearranged Services Inc. in 1979.[5] The company sat at the center of a cluster of related funeral, cemetery, and insurance entities. Brent Cassity became an officer of NPS and worked alongside his father and brother in the family enterprise.[2]

He has said he first visited his father in a federal prison as a teenager. Doug Cassity had an earlier securities-fraud conviction. Decades later Brent Cassity entered the same federal system as a defendant.[4]

Brent Cassity helped run the family's funeral operation as it expanded. By his own account the business grew from a handful of states to more than twenty.[6] One affiliated insurer, Lincoln Memorial Life Insurance Company, issued policies tied to the prepaid funeral contracts. The DOJ later named both NPS and Lincoln Memorial in the criminal case.[2]

How prepaid funeral contracts work

A prepaid funeral contract lets a customer plan and pay for a funeral before death. The buyer locks in services and prices. The seller is supposed to set the money aside until the funeral happens.

State laws set rules for that money. A company can hold it in a regulated trust account. A company can also buy a life insurance policy that pays out when the customer dies. Either way the funds must stay available for the funeral. Many buyers are older. Regulators built the rules around that fact. Prosecutors said NPS told customers, funeral homes, and state regulators that it followed these rules. It did not.[2]

National Prearranged Services Fraud

Federal prosecutors said the fraud ran from the early 1990s until NPS collapsed in 2008. Money that should have stayed in trusts or insurance reserves went elsewhere.[2] Court records described several uses for the diverted funds:

  • Personal enrichment of company officers and the Cassity family
  • Operating costs and sales commissions that legitimate revenue should have covered
  • Payments to earlier customers whose contracts came due, the core mechanic of a Ponzi scheme
  • Investments and spending unrelated to the funeral obligations[1]

The scheme required steady deception of several groups. Customers were told their prepaid funds sat in trust. Funeral homes that signed with NPS believed the company would honor its contracts. State insurance regulators received financial statements that hid the shortfall. Lincoln Memorial and other affiliated insurers did not provide the protection customers thought they had paid for.[2]

A judge later called it "an enormous Ponzi scheme."[1] One civil suit over the collapse described losses of roughly $500 million.[7]

Collapse and investigation

NPS ran out of new money to cover old obligations. The structure failed in 2008. State insurance regulators and federal authorities opened investigations.[7] Investigators put the victim count above 97,000 and the losses past $450 million. The conduct had continued for more than fifteen years.[3][1]

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and other agencies built the criminal case. Prosecutors charged six people connected to NPS and its affiliated companies.[1]

Charges and Sentencing

Guilty pleas

In 2013, Brent Cassity pleaded guilty to mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, and willfully permitting a felon to engage in the business of insurance. The last count concerned people with prior felony convictions who took part in the insurance operation. His father, Doug Cassity, then 67, pleaded guilty hours earlier to a similar set of charges and admitted that he organized and led the enterprise.[8]

The pleas were part of a larger case. Six defendants pleaded guilty to roles in the scheme.[1]

Sentences

The court sentenced the six defendants in November 2013.[1] Brent Cassity received 60 months, or five years, in federal prison. The court tied his restitution to a joint judgment of about $435 million against the NPS defendants.[1] Doug Cassity received nine years and seven months, the term that reflected his role as the leader.[1]

The other defendants received the following terms:[1]

  • David Wulf, an investment adviser: ten years
  • Randall K. Sutton, the chief financial officer: seven years
  • Howard Wittner, the company lawyer: three years
  • Sharon Nekol Province, an employee: eighteen months

Incarceration and After

Brent Cassity served his sentence at the United States Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas. The Leavenworth complex is one of the oldest federal prison sites in the country. He has said he reported to Leavenworth to begin the five-year term.[4]

After his release he wrote a memoir, Nightmare Success: Loyalty, Betrayal, Life Behind Bars, Adapting, and Finally Breaking Free. The book covers the family business, the fraud case, and his time in prison.[9][10]

He also hosts a podcast, Nightmare Success In and Out. The show features interviews with people who have been through the criminal justice system and rebuilt afterward. Guests include former prisoners, advocates, and others who describe reentry and recovery.[11][4]

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What was Brent Cassity convicted of?

Brent Cassity pleaded guilty in 2013 to mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, and willfully permitting a felon to engage in the business of insurance. The charges came from his role in the National Prearranged Services prepaid funeral fraud.


Q: How long was Brent Cassity's sentence?

A federal court in St. Louis sentenced him to five years, or 60 months, in November 2013. His father, Doug Cassity, received nine years and seven months.


Q: What was National Prearranged Services?

National Prearranged Services was a St. Louis-area company that sold prepaid funeral contracts. Customers paid in advance, but the company did not hold the funds in trust or insurance as required. It operated as a Ponzi-like scheme for more than fifteen years before collapsing in 2008.


Q: How many people lost money in the NPS fraud?

More than 97,000 victims lost money, including individual customers, funeral homes, insurers, and financial institutions across at least sixteen states. Total losses ran past $450 million.


Q: Where did Brent Cassity serve his sentence?

He served his five-year sentence at the United States Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas. He has since been released.


Q: What does Brent Cassity do now?

He wrote a memoir titled Nightmare Success and hosts a podcast, Nightmare Success In and Out, that interviews people who have been through the criminal justice system and rebuilt their lives.


References

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 "National Prearranged Services Crooks Finally Get Prison Sentence". Connecting Directors. Retrieved 2026-06-03.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 "Former Employee of National Prearranged Services Inc. and Lincoln Memorial Life Insurance Company Brent Cassity Pleads Guilty to Fraud and Money Laundering Charges". Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved 2026-06-03.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Prearranged funeral scammers sentenced to a total of 36 years". FOX 2 St. Louis. Retrieved 2026-06-03.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "Brent Cassity — Author, Speaker & Podcast Host". BrentCassity.com. Retrieved 2026-06-03.
  5. ↑ "NPS Executives Plead Guilty In $600 Million Ponzi Scheme". Connecting Directors. Retrieved 2026-06-03.
  6. ↑ "From Rock Bottom to a New Beginning: Brent Cassity's Journey". 2nd Opportunity. Retrieved 2026-06-03.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Civil trial starts in suit over $500 million fraud by prepaid funeral company in Clayton". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved 2026-06-03.
  8. ↑ "Father, son plead guilty in St. Louis prepaid funeral scam case". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved 2026-06-03.
  9. ↑ "Nightmare Success: Loyalty, Betrayal, Life Behind Bars, Adapting, and Finally Breaking Free: A Memoir". Amazon. Retrieved 2026-06-03.
  10. ↑ "Nightmare Success: Loyalty, Betrayal, Life Behind Bars, Adapting, and Finally Breaking Free: A Memoir". Barnes & Noble. Retrieved 2026-06-03.
  11. ↑ "Nightmare Success In and Out". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 2026-06-03.


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