A federal judge sentenced a Pennsylvania man to six years in prison for his role in a gruesome human remains trafficking ring connected to thefts from Harvard Medical School and other institutions. The case exposed a dark underground market for stolen body parts, involving social-media networks, online sellers, and interstate shipment of human remains.
Federal prosecutors identified Jeremy Pauley, a rural Pennsylvania resident embedded in the online “oddities” trade, as a central figure in buying and selling human body parts stolen from multiple sources, including Harvard Medical School. Pauley pleaded guilty in 2023 to conspiracy and interstate transport of stolen goods, and a federal judge in the Middle District of Pennsylvania handed down a six-year prison term. The sentence also includes a $2,000 fine and three years of supervised release after completing his prison term.
Prosecutors argued that Pauley continued to traffic in stolen human remains even after his guilty plea, underscoring his ongoing involvement in the illicit market. According to court filings, Pauley’s business included binding books in human skin and preserving fetal remains, generating an estimated $250,000 to $550,000 in revenue from sales of body parts.
Investigators traced the origins of many body parts to a broader network of theft and trafficking. The scandal first came to light with the arrest of a former Harvard Medical School morgue manager and other co-conspirators; those defendants stole organs, brains, hands, and other remains from cadavers that had been donated for research and teaching but not yet cremated or properly disposed. That theft ring extended beyond Harvard, with stolen remains sourced from mortuaries and hospitals in multiple states.
Pauley’s activities were facilitated online through social-media platforms and websites, where interested buyers and sellers of human remains connected and arranged transactions. Pauley and partners allegedly used services like PayPal and the U.S. Postal Service to ship body parts across state lines—actions that drew the attention of federal law enforcement.
Nine individuals were charged in the broader investigation, which federal authorities described as exposing a disturbing commercial market for human body parts. Pauley’s arrest in 2022 was a key breakthrough in unraveling the network. Despite prosecutors seeking a 15-year sentence given the severity and scope of the crimes, the judge’s ruling set Pauley’s term at six years.
The case sparked broader public concern about the protection of donated human remains and ethics in medical research, as family members of donation participants expressed deep distress over the mishandling of their loved ones’ bodies. The scandal also prompted reviews of institutional safeguards to prevent similar abuses in the future.
