Morgue manager at Harvard Medical School gets 8 years for selling the deceased

A former manager of the morgue at Harvard Medical School, along with his wife, was sentenced to prison terms for their role in transporting and selling human remains on the black market. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) made the announcement on Tuesday, noting that buyers have also been charged as part of an effort to shut down an interstate organ selling ring. 

As a result of his conviction, Cedric Lodge, 58, will serve eight years behind bars. His wife, Denise Lodge, 65, received a lighter sentence, one year. 

Notably, in his professional role at the morgue, Cedric stole and procured the organs. From 2018 to 2020, he was accused of stealing body parts—including brains, skin, hands, faces, heads and internal organs—from cadavers donated to Harvard Medical School for research and training purposes. 

Before the remains could be properly discarded after use, prosecutors said, he would take them home to New Hampshire, where the couple would store them. 

The DOJ added that the Lodges were conducting this smuggling under the radar, without the Boston-based university hospital’s knowledge. 

Typically, there is a procedure in place for how the deceased are handled after their donor bodies are used by officials and clinicians at the school, and it does not involve interstate travel and commercial exchange. The Lodges would sometimes send body parts through the mail to recipients, who would presumably keep or sell them. In some cases, interested parties would buy from the couple’s home, prosecutors said. 

While Cedric did most of the legwork in the conspiracy, his wife was convicted and sentenced because of her willingness to collaborate. The duo are said to have made tens of thousands of dollars in profits over two years. 

At least six others have been arrested as part of the same connected ring of black market human tissue selling, including the operator of a crematorium in Arkansas, prosecutors confirmed. She received 15 years in prison, while buyers are getting sentences ranging from 15 to 18 months. 

Some are still awaiting sentencing, having pleaded guilty to federal charges. 

“Today’s sentencing is another step forward in ensuring those who orchestrated and executed this heinous crime are brought to justice,” Wayne A. Jacobs, special agent in charge of the FBI's Philadelphia Field Office, said in a statement. “I want to thank our partners at the Postal Inspection Service and the United States Attorney's Office for their diligent efforts in this case.”