BEXAR COUNTY, Texas – The subject of a yearslong KSAT investigation received a prison sentence after she was convicted of stealing $50,000 from people who purchased headstones but never received them.
Elena Moreno Sanchez, 49, was sentenced to six years in prison just before noon on Monday. Judge Stephanie Boyd, who presided over Moreno’s trial, made the ruling inside Bexar County’s 187th Criminal District Court.
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According to court records, Moreno was charged with theft of property between $30,000 and $150,000, which is considered a third-degree felony. She faced between two and 10 years in prison and would have been responsible for paying a fine of up to $10,000.
Victims’ testimony
The prosecution called three witnesses to the stand on Monday morning.
The first witness, who was first questioned by the state, said a headstone she ordered from Moreno never arrived.
“What was delivered by Ms. Moreno (Sanchez) was pain, agony (and) torture for me, my family and the loss of my husband,” the witness told the court. “We have suffered quite a bit, and she has put us through nothing but hell until now. And I want closure of this.”
The witness told the judge that Moreno now works at another San Antonio-area funeral business and worries she could scam other families. Moreno later confirmed that she reports to a supervisor at that business and does not collect any money.
After Moreno pled guilty last fall, Judge Boyd ordered her to pay complete restitution ($50,000) by December — her most recent court appearance before Monday. However, she only paid approximately 70% of that amount back in full.
Following the December hearing, scam victims said they were devastated that her timeframe for repayment was extended to April.
Before proceedings began on Monday, the state and defense confirmed that Moreno had finally paid the victims back completely.
Andrew Hicks, Moreno’s defense attorney, asked the witness if she had received restitution. She said she had.
“And I remember your (Hicks’) words. You said, ‘Oh, that’s a good Christmas gift. It came just in time.’ That was very painful for me,” the witness told Hicks. “That was not very nice. ... I don’t know how you can represent someone like that (Moreno).”
Boyd reminded the witness that, due to the U.S. Constitution, “everybody deserves to have an attorney, if they want one.”
The state’s last two witnesses also said they didn’t receive headstones from Moreno.
“It’s always a reminder, when we go visit them (the second witness’ parents), that we just got bamboozled,” the second witness told the court. “Played in our faces.”
The third witness said she learned of Moreno’s Angelic Monuments business from a business card at a local restaurant.
Moreno speaks
After the state’s three witnesses completed their testimony, Hicks called Moreno to the stand.
Moreno, who said she owned the business for six years on her own, did not intend to take people’s money or cause them additional pain.
“I’ve worked hard to maintain the integrity and the respect of it (Angelic Monuments business),” Moreno told the court.
Moreno said the COVID-19 pandemic and an abusive partner were two reasons there were headstone delivery ”delays.”
“I’m heartbroken,” Moreno said. “I hurt these families ... and I’m terribly sorry for it.”
Instead of prison, Moreno asked Boyd for a “community supervision” — or probation — sentence.
In addition to Boyd’s six-year prison sentence, Moreno is no longer allowed to work “in the funeral home industry, the home health care industry or with minors.”
Background
Moreno operated Angelic Monuments, a now-former South Side business that provided headstones to families who purchased them after losing loved ones.
KSAT first reported on the business in February 2024.
Six family members of departed relatives talked to KSAT about their business interactions with Moreno. At the time, those family members paid more than $25,000 combined but said they did not receive headstones.
Three weeks later, in March 2024, six more families who claimed Moreno had wronged them also came forward to KSAT in a follow-up story.
At that point, San Antonio police said it was investigating the theft reports. In addition, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) assigned Angelic Monuments an “F-” rating and launched its own investigation.
Ten days later, on March 16, SAPD took Moreno into custody after a family told police they wrote a $8.508.09 check for a headstone that never came.
Moreno later posted a $5,000 bond.
One month later, on April 16, officers arrested Moreno again on the updated third-degree felony theft charge.
SAPD officers said the victims’ families paid more than $42,000 combined to Moreno in the forms of cash, checks and credit cards.
By the time she pled guilty to theft in October 2025, 16 families said they were victims of Moreno. In all, they said they paid her at least $50,000 combined.
More coverage of this story on KSAT: