Cedric Lodge, a former Harvard University morgue attendant, was sentenced to eight years in prison for organ trafficking and human remains, while his wife was sentenced to one year for participating in the same conspiracy. The two appeared in federal court in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday, and Lodge admitted removing body parts before the cremations.
As the US Department of Justice reported on Thursday (12/18/2025), from 2018 until at least March 2020, Lodge participated in the sale and interstate transport of human remains stolen from the mortuary of the said university center in Boston, Massachusetts, “as if they were jewelry,” as prosecutor Alisan Martin said. Lodge, who was director of the mortuary for 28 years, expressed remorse in court Tuesday. Even his defense attorney, Patrick Casey, described his actions as “outrageous.”
Purchases for “disruptive” use
Among the remains traded were brains, skin, hands, faces, dissected heads and other parts of cadavers that were donated after they had been used for research and teaching purposes but before they could be disposed of, according to the anatomical donation agreement between the donor and the school.
In one case, Cedric Lodge provided fur to a buyer so it could be tanned into leather and bound into a book, a “deeply frightening reality,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Alisan Martin said in a court filing. “In another case, Cedric and Denise Lodge sold a man’s face, perhaps to put it on a shelf, perhaps to use it for something even more disturbing,” Martin said.
Selling by mail
Lodge took the remains without notifying the university or the donor’s family and transported them to his home in New Hampshire. Then he and his wife Denise sold them and shipped them to buyers in other states. Otherwise, buyers picked them up directly and transported them at their own expense. Prosecutors said at least six other people, including an Arkansas Crematorium employee, have pleaded guilty in the body parts trafficking investigation.
“Trafficking stolen human remains through the United States mail is a disturbing act that harms already grieving families and creates a potentially dangerous situation for postal workers and customers,” Christopher Nielsen, inspector in charge of the Philadelphia Division of the Postal Inspection Service, said in the statement.
Harvard Medical School said yesterday that Lodge’s actions were “abhorrent and inconsistent” with the values that the university, its anatomical donors and loved ones “expect and deserve.” “While the verdict concludes the criminal case against him, the process of healing for the pain he caused continues,” added the university, which fired Lodge in 2023 when the case was uncovered.
LGC (EFE, AP)
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