A Pennsylvania man has pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy and interstate transport of stolen property — human remains stolen from Harvard Medical School and an Arkansas mortuary.
Jeremy Pauley, 41, was arrested on July 22, 2022, on charges of abuse of a corpse, receiving stolen property, and other related charges, as CrimeOnline previously reported. Further investigation connected him with other people, including the former manager of the morgue at Harvard’s medical school and his wife, who were arrested a year later, along with three other people in what authorities called “a nationwide network” of people buying and selling the stolen remains.
Pauley’s guilty plea means he admitted his role in the network, said United States Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvanaia Gerard M. Karam, who added that he admitted that he knew the remains were stolen when he bought them and that at least one of the people he sold them to also knew they were stolen.
The investigation led detectives to Cedric Lodge, former morgue manager at Harvard Medical School, and his wife Denise Lodge, who are are accused of stealing organs and other remains before their scheduled cremation and selling them to Katrina Maclean, Joshua Taylor, and others.
Maclean and Taylor sold the remains to several people, including Pauley, who also bought remains from Candace Chapman Scott, who allegedly stole remains from the Little Rock, Arkansas, mortuary where she worked.
Pauley also allegedly sold remains to Matthew Lampi, from whom he also bought remains.
The Lodges, Maclean, Taylor, and Lampi have all been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pennsylvania on charges of conspiracy and interstate transport of stolen property and are awaiting trial. Chapman was indicted in federal court in Arkansas for conspiracy and defrauding her employer.
Karam said the maximum penalty for the Pennsylvania charges is 15 years in prison, supervised released, and a fine.
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[Featured image: Jeremy Lee Pauley/East Pennsboro Township Police Department]
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