A Massachusetts woman has pled guilty in federal court to trafficking stolen human remains taken from Harvard Medical School and sold in many states, including Pennsylvania.
According to federal prosecutors, Katrina Maclean, 46, of Bradford, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty before Chief U.S. District Judge Matthew W. Brann on Monday. Maclean admitted to shipping stolen human remains from Massachusetts to Pennsylvania between 2018 and 2022.
According to the US Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, Maclean purchased the bones from Cedric Lodge, the former morgue manager for Harvard’s Anatomical Gifts Program. According to investigators, Lodge removed organs and other body parts from cadavers donated for medical education prior to their scheduled cremations and sold them from his New Hampshire home with the assistance of his wife, Denise Lodge.
Prosecutors claim Maclean not only purchased the stolen remains but also allegedly resold them to others, including Jeremy Pauley of Pennsylvania, who has pleaded guilty in the case.
The plan featured a network of buyers and vendors across many states. Several defendants, including Pauley, the Lodges, Joshua Taylor, Andrew Ensanian, Matthew Lampi, and Angelo Pereyra, have previously confessed guilt. Lampi received a 15-month prison sentence, while Pereyra was sentenced to 18 months. Others are still awaiting sentence. In a separate case, Candace Chapman-Scott, an Arkansas cremation worker who sold stolen remains to Pauley, received a 15-year federal prison sentence.
The case was investigated collaboratively by the FBI, the United States Postal Inspection Service, and the East Pennsboro Township Police Department. Alisan V. Martin, an Assistant United States Attorney, is prosecuting.
Maclean faces up to 10 years in federal prison, as well as potential penalties and supervised release. The sentencing date has not yet been scheduled.