Ex-Harvard morgue manager sentenced to jail

A former Harvard Medical School morgue manager was sentenced to eight years in prison for stealing and selling organs and other parts of cadavers that were donated to the school for medical research and education.



Cedric Lodge, who managed Harvard's morgue for more than two decades before his 2023 arrest, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, after pleading guilty in May to transporting stolen goods across state lines.



The wife of the 58-year-old man, Denise Lodge, was also sentenced to one year in prison after admitting to participating in the sale of stolen human remains that her husband obtained through his position at Harvard.



Prosecutors said Cedric Lodge from 2018 through at least March 2020 stole parts from cadavers including heads, faces, brains, skin and hands after they had been used for research and teaching purposes and transported them from Harvard's morgue in Massachusetts to his home in Goffstown, New Hampshire.

Together, the Lodges sold stolen remains to several individuals including two in Pennsylvania, which the buyers mostly then resold.



They had urged judge Brann to impose the maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, saying his conduct "shocks the conscience" and was carried out "for the amusement of the disturbing 'oddities' community."