Jeremy Pauley, Trafficking in Stolen Human Remains, Pennsylvania 2025

SCRANTON, PA – Jeremy Pauley, a 43-year-old resident of Thompson, PA, has been sentenced to 72 months in prison for his role in a nationwide network of individuals who bought and sold human remains stolen from Harvard Medical School and an Arkansas mortuary.

According to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, Pauley admitted to purchasing human remains from multiple individuals knowing that those remains were stolen, and selling many of the stolen remains to others, at least one of whom also knew they had been stolen.

Pauley’s sentence was handed down by Chief United States District Judge Matthew W. Brann on December 22, 2025. As part of his sentence, Pauley was also ordered to pay a $2000 fine and serve three years on supervised release following his sentence.

The investigation into Pauley’s activities was part of a larger probe into a network of individuals who bought and sold stolen human remains. Other defendants, including Cedric Lodge, Joshua Taylor, and Katrina Maclean, have previously entered guilty pleas in related cases.

Lodge, who managed the morgue for the Anatomical Gifts Program at Harvard Medical School, stole organs and other parts of cadavers donated for medical research and education between 2018 and 2022. He sold the stolen remains to Maclean, Taylor, and others, making arrangements via cellular telephone and social media websites.

Pauley purchased stolen human remains from multiple individuals, including Candace Chapman Scott, who stole remains from her employer, a Little Rock, Arkansas mortuary and crematorium. Scott sold the stolen remains to Pauley and shipped them to him in the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

Pauley’s case is a disturbing reminder of the dark and twisted world of human remains trafficking. The trafficking of stolen human remains victimizes already grieving families and creates a potentially hazardous situation for postal employees and customers.

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