Goffstown man pleads guilty in Harvard Medical School body parts case
Cedric Lodge, 57, pleaded guilty during a change of plea hearing Wednesday in federal court in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. He faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000, according to his plea agreement.
Lodge, the former manager of Harvard Medical School's morgue, was arrested two years ago in connection to a scheme where people bought and sold human remains stolen from Harvard and a mortuary in Arkansas.
Investigators accused Lodge of letting buyers come into the morgue to pick out body parts they wanted to buy.
He would allegedly steal parts including brains, skin and bones from donated cadavers before their scheduled cremation, bring them to his home and ship them to buyers through the U.S. Postal Service.
The scheme allegedly operated from 2018 through 2022, according to court documents.
A brief filed in March indicated lawyers for Lodge were attempting to have the charges against him tossed out.
Lodge's lawyers had argued the charges don't hold up because human body parts are not legally considered property and can't be assigned a market value.
Lodge worked in the morgue as part of the Anatomical Gift Program until Harvard Medical School terminated his employment on May 6, 2024.
According to U.S. Attorney Gerard M. Karam of the Middle District of Pennsylvania, a nationwide network of people bought and sold human remains stolen from the morgue and the Arkansas mortuary.
Court documents show Harvard Medical School employees are not allowed to 'remove, keep, or sell any human remains, in whole or in part, belonging to a donated cadaver.'
Prosecutors claim in court paperwork that Lodge transported the stolen body parts from Boston to his home in Goffstown and made sales arrangements via cellphone and social media.
In October 2020, a customer purchased two 'dissected human faces' for $600 from Lodge, the indictment alleges. Another sent Denise Lodge, Lodge's wife, a check for $1,000 with the memo line 'Head number 7,' documents state.
In November 2020, a customer sent another $200 check with the memo line 'braiiiiiins.'
Court documents allege Denise Lodge shipped packages of human remains from a post office in Manchester.
Lodge's plea comes a year after Denise Lodge agreed to a plea deal of her own on a federal charge of interstate transport of stolen goods.
Denise Lodge's attorney said in February 2024 that her client's husband 'was doing this and she just kind of went along with it,' adding 'what happened here is wrong' and 'more of a moral and ethical dilemma … than a criminal case.'
Cedric Lodge admitted to having sold remains to Joshua Taylor and Andrew Ensanian, among others. Many of the remains purchased from Lodge were resold for a profit, including to Jeremy Pauley, who previously entered a guilty plea to conspiracy and interstate transportation of stolen human remains.
Several other defendants have previously entered guilty pleas in related cases, including Lodge's wife, Denise Lodge, Joshua Taylor, Andrew Ensanian, Matthew Lampi, and Angelo Pereyra. Lampi was sentenced to 15 months in prison and Pereyra was sentenced to 18 months. Denise Lodge and Joshua Taylor are still awaiting sentencing.
Additionally, Candace Chapman-Scott, who stole remains from an Arkansas crematorium where she was employed and sold them to Pauley in Pennsylvania, entered a plea of guilty in Arkansas federal court and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
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