Joshua Taylor, 46, of Wernersville, Pennsylvania, admitted in federal court on Thursday to illegally transporting stolen human remains across state lines. The plea was for charges on stolen remains from Harvard Medical School in Massachusetts.
According to Acting United States Attorney John C. Gurganus, Taylor confessed to purchasing human remains between 2018 and 2022, knowing they had been illicitly taken from the Anatomical Gifts Program at Harvard Medical School.
Taylor then transported these remains from New Hampshire to Pennsylvania. Furthermore, Taylor admitted to selling some of the stolen remains to others, including Jeremy Pauley, who has also previously pleaded guilty to a felony charge in connection with the case.
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The indictment details a scheme involving Cedric Lodge, the former morgue manager for the Anatomical Gifts Program at Harvard Medical School in Boston. Lodge is alleged to have stolen organs and other body parts from cadavers donated for medical research and education before their scheduled cremation.
The indictment further alleges that Lodge would transport the stolen remains to his residence in Goffstown, New Hampshire, where he and his wife, Denise Lodge, sold them to Taylor and others, arranging the transactions via cellular telephone and social media.
On occasion, Taylor is said to have transported the stolen remains back to Pennsylvania.
Taylor is the latest individual to plead guilty in connection with this disturbing case. Several others have already admitted their involvement, including Denise Lodge, Andrew Ensanian, Matthew Lampi, and Angelo Pereyra.
Lampi has been sentenced to 15 months in prison, and Pereyra received an 18-month sentence. Denise Lodge is currently awaiting sentencing. In a related case, Candace Chapman-Scott, who stole human remains from an Arkansas crematorium and sold them to Jeremy Pauley in Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty in Arkansas federal court and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Postal Inspection Service, and the East Pennsboro Township Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alisan Martin is prosecuting the case.
Taylor now faces a maximum penalty of 10 years of imprisonment, a term of supervised release, and a potential fine. The actual sentence will be determined by the Judge after considering federal sentencing statutes and guidelines.
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