A former Harvard Medical School morgue manager has been handed an eight-year prison sentence for the illicit sale of body parts pilfered from cadavers donated to the institution.

Cedric Lodge, 58, residing in Goffstown, New Hampshire, was sentenced on December 16 in a Pennsylvania federal court, as detailed in a press release issued by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

His wife, Denise Lodge, aged 65, received a sentence of one year and one day for her role in helping transport the stolen remains across state lines.

United States Attorney Brian D. Miller reported that from 2018 to March 2020, Cedric Lodge exploited his position at Harvard to misappropriate body parts from the morgue. This was done without the consent or awareness of Harvard, the donors, or their families, and the parts were transported to his home in New Hampshire.

According to the news release, Lodge illicitly obtained human remains, including organs, brains, skin, hands, faces, dissected heads, and other parts. These were taken from cadavers after their educational and research usage but before they could be disposed of in accordance with the anatomical gift donation agreement between the donors and the school.

After taking the body parts home, Cedric and Denise sold them, sometimes in person and other times shipping them to buyers in other states, per federal prosecutors.

In a statement to Oxygen, Harvard Medical School called Cedric’s actions “abhorrent and inconsistent with the standards and values that Harvard, our anatomical donors, and their loved ones expect and deserve.”

“While Lodge’s sentencing concludes the criminal case against him, the process of healing from the pain he caused continues,” the school’s statement continued. “Our Anatomical Gift Program relies on the deep, selfless commitment of individual donors and their families to provide essential educational opportunities to medical students, surgeons, pharmacists, and many allied health professionals. We reaffirm our deep sorrow for the families of donors who may have been impacted.”

The Lodges’ sentencing comes just over two and a half years after Cedric’s firing and arrest became national news.

He pled guilty to the interstate transport of human remains this May, following his wife’s own guilty plea.