A former Harvard Medical School morgue manager has been sentenced to eight years in federal prison for stealing and selling body parts donated for scientific research, the U.S. Justice Department said, in a case that rattled one of the nation’s premier medical institutions and exposed a shadow market for human remains.
Cedric Lodge, 58, pleaded guilty in May to trafficking stolen remains from 2018 through at least March 2020. Prosecutors said the items included internal organs, brains, skin, hands, faces and dissected heads taken from bodies entrusted to Harvard for medical education and research.
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Lodge was fired by the university in May 2023, Harvard has said.
Investigators said Lodge and his wife, Denise, removed body parts from the school’s facility near Boston and transported them to the couple’s home in Goffstown, New Hampshire, as well as to locations in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. They did so “without the knowledge or permission of his employer, the donor, or the donor’s family,” according to the Justice Department, before shipping the remains to buyers in other states.
“Today’s sentencing is another step forward in ensuring those who orchestrated and executed this heinous crime are brought to justice,” said Wayne A. Jacobs, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia field office.
Federal authorities said many of the human remains Lodge sold were later resold for profit, creating a network of transactions that extended across state lines. Several buyers have received prison sentences or are awaiting sentencing, according to the department.
The case unfolded over several years and drew national attention for its brazen breach of trust within a program reliant on donations intended to advance medicine. Prosecutors described a scheme in which the stolen remains moved through multiple hands and markets, far removed from the consent provided by donors and their families.
Lodge’s conviction and sentence cap a broader federal investigation into illicit trafficking of human remains involving multiple defendants. Authorities have not publicly detailed the total number of bodies affected but emphasized the scope of the misconduct and its impact on donor families and the scientific community.
Harvard Medical School said Lodge was terminated shortly after the allegations came to light last year. The school did not immediately comment on Tuesday’s sentencing but has previously said it notified law enforcement and cooperated with investigators.
In announcing the sentence, federal officials framed the outcome as a measure of accountability for a crime that violated both the law and the ethics underpinning medical research. The Justice Department said the investigation remains active as courts process additional defendants tied to the resale of remains.
Lodge will serve his sentence in federal prison. Further details of his plea and any restitution were not immediately disclosed.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
