Pennsylvania man sentenced to prison after buying stolen human remains from Massachusetts, Arkansas

SCRANTON – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania has announced in a release that 43-year-old Jeremy Pauley, of Thompson, Pennsylvania, was sentenced on December 22, 2025, to 72 months in prison by Chief United States District Judge Matthew W. Brann for conspiracy and interstate transportation of stolen property.

Chief Judge Brann also ordered Pauley to pay a $2000 fine and serve three years on supervised release following his sentence.

According to United States Attorney Brian D. Miller, Pauley admitted to his role in a nationwide network of individuals who bought and sold human remains stolen from Harvard Medical School and an Arkansas mortuary.  Pauley purchased human remains from multiple individuals knowing that those remains were stolen.  Pauley also sold many of the stolen remains to others, at least one of whom also knew they had been stolen.

Previously, other individuals were also indicted on charges of conspiracy and interstate transport of stolen property as part of the same investigation.  From 2018 through 2022, Cedric Lodge, who managed the morgue for the Anatomical Gifts Program at Harvard Medical School, located in Boston, Massachusetts, stole organs and other parts of cadavers donated for medical research and education before their scheduled cremations.  Lodge at times allegedly transported stolen remains from Boston to his residence in Goffstown, New Hampshire, where he and his wife, Denise Lodge, sold the remains to Katrina Maclean, Joshua Taylor, and others, making arrangements via cellular telephone and social media websites.  At times, Cedric Lodge allowed Maclean and Taylor to enter the morgue at Harvard Medical School and examine cadavers to choose what to purchase.  On some occasions, Taylor transported stolen remains back to Pennsylvania.  On other occasions, the Lodges shipped stolen remains to Taylor and others out of state.

Maclean and Taylor sold the stolen remains for profit, including to Jeremy Pauley in the Middle District of Pennsylvania. Jeremy Pauley also purchased stolen human remains from Candace Chapman Scott, who stole remains from her employer, a Little Rock, Arkansas mortuary and crematorium.  Scott stole parts of cadavers she was supposed to have cremated, many of which had been donated to and used for research and educational purposes by an area medical school, as well as the corpses of two stillborn babies who were supposed to be cremated and returned as cremains to their families. Scott sold the stolen remains to Pauley and shipped them to Pauley in the Middle District of Pennsylvania. Pauley sold many of the stolen remains he purchased to other individuals, including Matthew Lampi. Lampi and Pauley bought and sold from each other over an extended period and exchanged over $100,000 in online payments.

“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, Cedric and Denise Lodge, and Angelo Pereyra. Lampi was sentenced to 15 months in prison; Pereyra was sentenced to 18 months in prison; Ensanian was sentenced to six months in prison; Denise and Cedric Lodge were sentenced to 12 months and a day and 96 months in prison.  Joshua Taylor and Katrina Maclean are 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, the East Pennsboro Township Police Department, and the Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Alisan Martin is prosecuting the case.