Former Massachusetts morgue manager sentenced after stealing, selling, transporting body parts in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania

SCRANTON – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Cedric Lodge, age 58, and Denise Lodge, age 65, both of Goffstown, New Hampshire, were sentenced by Chief United States District Judge Matthew W. Brann to interstate transport of stolen human remains. Cedric Lodge was sentenced to 96 months in prison and Denise Lodge received a sentence of 12 months and a day in prison. 

According to a release by United States Attorney Brian Miller, from 2018 through at least March 2020, Cedric Lodge participated in the sale and interstate transport of human remains stolen from Harvard Medical School morgue, located in Boston, Massachusetts.  Cedric Lodge, who was then employed as the manager of the Harvard Medical School Morgue, removed human remains, including organs, brains, skin, hands, faces, dissected heads, and other parts, from donated cadavers after they had been used for research and teaching purposes but before they could be disposed of according to the anatomical gift donation agreement between the donor and the school. Cedric Lodge took the remains without the knowledge or permission of his employer, the donor, or the donor’s family, and transported the remains to his home in New Hampshire.  After he and his wife Denise Lodge sold the remains, they would ship the remains to the buyers in other states, or the buyer would take possession directly and transport the remains themselves.  Remains stolen and sold by the Lodges were transported from the morgue in Boston to locations in Salem, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania.

Lodge 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 and is scheduled for sentencing on December 22, 2025.

“The trafficking of stolen human remains through the US Mail is a disturbing act that victimizes already grieving families while also creating a potentially hazardous situation for Postal employees and customers,” said Christopher Nielsen, the Inspector in Charge of the Philadelphia Division of the Postal Inspection Service. “I hope our efforts, and these sentencings, bring some amount of closure to those affected by this terrible crime.”

“Today’s sentencing is another step forward in ensuring those who orchestrated and executed this heinous crime are brought to justice” said Wayne A. Jacobs, special agent in charge of FBI’s Philadelphia Field Office. “I want to thank our partners at the Postal Inspection Service and the United States Attorney’s Office for their diligent efforts in this case.”

Several other defendants have previously entered guilty pleas in related cases, including Joshua Taylor, Andrew Ensanian, Matthew Lampi, Katrina Maclean and Angelo Pereyra.  Lampi was sentenced to 15 months in prison and Pereyra was sentenced to 18 months.  Joshua Taylor is 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.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Postal Inspection Service, and the East Pennsboro Township Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alisan Martin is prosecuting the case.