A former Harvard University Medical School morgue manager was sentenced Tuesday to eight years in prison for allegedly stealing and selling body parts, according to The Associated Press (AP).
Cedric Lodge allegedly shipped brains, skins, hands and faces to buyers in Pennsylvania after the cadavers donated to the medical school were no longer needed for research, The AP reported. In one instance, Lodge provided skin to a buyer so it could be tanned into leather and bound into a book, Assistant U.S. Attorney Alisan Martin said in a court filing. Lodge’s wife, Denise Lodge, was sentenced to around a year in prison for allegedly helping him, according to the outlet.
Lodge, who served as the medical school’s morgue manager for 28 years, purportedly collected thousands of dollars from 2018 to March 2020. Lodge pleaded guilty to interstate transport of stolen human remains back in May 2025, according to The AP. At the time, authorities said Lodge, his wife and others were part of a nationwide network of people who purchased and sold human remains from Harvard and an Arkansas mortuary.
When Harvard is finished with a body that has been used for teaching or research, the university either returns the body to the family, or the body is cremated. The university suspended the donation of bodies for five months in 2023 when charges were filed, The AP reported.
Lodge allegedly transported the body parts from Harvard University Medical School to his home in Goffstown, New Hampshire, where they were stored and sold, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. Payments were made with a Paypal account registered to his wife, prosecutors alleged, WBUR reported. Some body parts were sent through the mail, The AP reported in June 2023. Lodge also allegedly allowed buyers to visit the morgue to choose which remains they wanted to buy.
Lodge was fired on May 6, 2023. Harvard University Medical School Deans George Daley and Edward Hundert called the matter “disturbing.”
“We are appalled to learn that something so disturbing could happen on our campus — a community dedicated to healing and serving others. The reported incidents are a betrayal of HMS and, most importantly, each of the individuals who altruistically chose to will their bodies to HMS through the Anatomical Gift Program to advance medical education and research,” they said in a statement, according to The AP.
In a court filing, defense attorney Patrick Casey said Lodge “acknowledges the seriousness of his conduct and the harm his actions have inflicted on both the deceased persons whose bodies he callously degraded and their grieving families.” (RELATED: MIT Professor Found Dead In Foyer After Neighbor Allegedly Heard Gunshots)
Katrina Maclean, owner of Kat’s Creepy Creations, also pleaded guilty to a count of interstate transportation of stolen goods in connection with the operation, according to People. Her store was reportedly raided by the FBI in 2023.
The Daily Caller contacted Harvard University Medical School but has not heard back as of publication.