Former Harvard Morgue Manager Sentenced After Selling Human Body Parts

A former manager of the Harvard Medical School morgue was sentenced Tuesday to eight years in federal prison for stealing and selling human body parts taken from donated cadavers, according to prosecutors, as reported by The New York Post.

Cedric Lodge, 58, of Goffstown, New Hampshire, appeared in federal court in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, where he was sentenced for his role in a yearslong scheme that involved trafficking human remains across state lines.

Prosecutors said Lodge sold brains, skin, hands, faces, and other body parts to buyers in Pennsylvania and other locations after the bodies had been donated to Harvard for medical research and teaching.

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The ex-manager of Harvard Medical School’s morgue convicted of stealing and selling human body parts eight-years prison.

Prosecutors stated that Cedric Lodge orchestrated a macabre operation, removing and mailing items such as brains, skin, hands, and faces to… pic.twitter.com/3s2cWVuZWm

— Breanna Morello (@BreannaMorello) December 18, 2025

Authorities said Lodge treated the remains of donated cadavers as commodities, removing body parts before the bodies were returned to families or cremated, which is the standard practice once Harvard Medical School has completed its research or instructional use.

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Assistant U.S. Attorney Alisan Martin detailed the scope of the conduct in court filings, describing how some of the remains were used.

“In one example, Cedric Lodge provided skin to a buyer so it could be tanned into leather and bound into a book, a deeply horrifying reality,” Martin said.

“In another, Cedric and Denise Lodge sold a man’s face — perhaps to be kept on a shelf, perhaps to be used for something even more disturbing,” she added.

Prosecutors said Lodge collected thousands of dollars from the illegal sales between 2018 and March 2020. Martin said Lodge “treated the parts of beloved human beings as if they were baubles to be sold for profit.”

Lodge’s wife, Denise Lodge, was also sentenced Tuesday. She received a sentence of just over one year in prison for assisting her husband in the scheme.

Cedric Lodge & his wife Denise took body parts from Harvard near Boston to their home in Goffstown, New Hampshire, locations in Massachusetts & Pennsylvania “without the knowledge or permission of his employer, the donor, or the donor’s family” before shipping them to buyers … pic.twitter.com/4QMbt3V7Ah

— Paula Neal Mooney (@PAULANEALMOONEY) December 17, 2025

According to court records, Cedric Lodge had worked as a morgue manager at Harvard Medical School for 28 years.

He admitted to removing body parts from donated cadavers before they were cremated, acknowledging his role in the trafficking operation.

During the sentencing hearing, Lodge expressed regret for his actions. His defense attorney, Patrick Casey, said in a court filing that Lodge accepted responsibility for what he had done.

“Mr. Lodge acknowledges the seriousness of his conduct and the harm his actions have inflicted on both the deceased persons whose bodies he callously degraded and their grieving families,” Casey said.

Harvard Medical School suspended its body donation program for five months in 2023 after the charges against Lodge were filed.

The pause came as federal investigators continued examining how the remains were removed and distributed.

Prosecutors said the investigation uncovered a broader network involved in the trafficking of human remains. At least six other individuals have pleaded guilty in connection with the case, including an employee at a crematorium in Arkansas.

Authorities have not disclosed how many families were affected by Lodge’s actions, but prosecutors emphasized that the scheme violated the trust placed in the medical donation system by donors and their loved ones.

The case was investigated by federal law enforcement agencies, and sentencing concludes one of the most disturbing criminal cases tied to the misuse of donated human remains in recent years.

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