HARRISBURG, Pa. — Note: The video is from August 19, 2022.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania on Wednesday announced that an additional six arrests have been made in an alleged conspiracy to sell human body parts on the Internet that involved a former Cumberland County man last year.
Jeremy Pauley, 41, whom court records list as a resident of Bloomsburg, but was called an Enola resident by police at the time of his arrest last August, was the first to be charged in the conspiracy after police received numerous calls from those concerned about his sale of "oddities" online.
The initial investigation determined Pauley had several human body parts in the basement of his Enola home, including human brains, a human heart, and other human organs, police said.
A second alleged conspirator, Candace Chapman Scott, of Little Rock, Arkansas, was indicted in her state earlier this year for her alleged role in the conspiracy. She is accused of using her job at Arkansas Central Mortuary Services to access and sell human body parts to Pauley, including fetuses, brains, hearts, lungs, genitalia, large pieces of skin and other items.
On Wednesday, U.S. Attorney Gerard M. Karam announced the indictment of several alleged co-conspirators.
They are:
- Cedric Lodge, 55, of Goffstown, New Hampshire
- Katrina Maclean, 44, of Salem, Massachusetts
- Joshua Taylor, 46, of West Lawn, Berks County
- Denise Lodge, 63, of Goffstown, New Hampshire
- Mathew Lampi, 52, of East Bethel, Minnesota
The six suspects were indicted by a federal grand jury on conspiracy and interstate transport of stolen goods charges, Karam said.
According to Karam, the indictments and information allege that a nationwide network of individuals bought and sold human remains stolen from Harvard Medical School, in addition to the Arkansas mortuary where Scott was employed.
The charges allege that from 2018 through 2022, Cedric Lodge, who managed the morgue for the Anatomical Gifts Program at Harvard Medical School, located in Boston, Massachusetts, stole organs and other parts of cadavers donated for medical research and education before their scheduled cremations.
Lodge at times transported stolen remains from Boston to his home, where he and his wife, Denise Lodge, sold the remains to Katrina Maclean, Joshua Taylor, and others, making arrangements via cellular telephone and social media websites.
At times, Cedric Lodge allowed Maclean and Taylor to enter the morgue at Harvard Medical School and examine cadavers to choose what to purchase, the indictment claims.
On some occasions, Taylor transported stolen remains back to Pennsylvania. On other occasions, the Lodges shipped stolen remains to Taylor and others out of state, according to the indictment.
Maclean and Taylor resold the stolen remains to other people, including Pauley, for profit, Karam said.
Pauley also purchased stolen human remains from Scott, who stole remains from her employer, according to Karam.
Scott allegedly stole parts of cadavers she was supposed to have cremated, many of which had been donated to and used for research and educational purposes by an area medical school, as well as the corpses of two stillborn babies who were supposed to be cremated and returned as cremains to their families, the indictment claims.
Scott sold the stolen remains to Pauley and shipped them to Pauley in Cumberland County.
Pauley then allegedly sold many of the stolen remains he purchased to other individuals, including Matthew Lampi, according to Karam.
Lampi and Pauley bought and sold from each other over an extended period of time and exchanged over $100,000 in online payments, Karam said.
A preliminary hearing for Pauley, which has already been postponed five times, has been set for July 5, court records show.
“Some crimes defy understanding,” said Karam. “The theft and trafficking of human remains strikes at the very essence of what makes us human. It is particularly egregious that so many of the victims here volunteered to allow their remains to be used to educate medical professionals and advance the interests of science and healing. For them and their families to be taken advantage of in the name of profit is appalling. With these charges, we are seeking to secure some measure of justice for all these victims.
"I’d like to thank Harvard Medical School, which is also a victim here, for their cooperation in this investigation. Additionally, this prosecution would not be possible without the close cooperation and hard work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the United States Attorney’s Offices in multiple districts, including the Eastern District of Arkansas. From the beginning, this has been a multi-jurisdictional investigation, and our two offices have worked side by side to bring justice for these victims.”
"The defendants violated the trust of the deceased and their families all in the name of greed," said FBI Special Agent in Charge Jacqueline Maguire. "While today's charges cannot undo the unfathomable pain this heinous crime has caused, the FBI will continue to work tirelessly to see that justice is served."
Karam said the United States Attorney’s Office has and will continue to attempt to identify and contact as many of the victims and victims’ families affected by this case as possible.
The United States Attorney’s Office has and will continue to attempt to identify and contact as many of the victims and victims’ families affected by this case as possible.
If anyone believes they or a family member may have been affected by the conduct charged in these indictments and information, please contact our Victim and Witness Unit at USAPAM.Victim.Information@usdoj.gov or (717) 614-4249.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the East Pennsboro Township Police Department, and the Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean A. Camoni is prosecuting the case.
The maximum penalty under federal law for this offense is 15 years of imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine.