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Former Harvard morgue manager pleads guilty to trafficking body parts from donated cadavers

(BOSTON) -- The former manager of the Harvard Medical School morgue pleaded guilty to stealing body parts from cadavers donated to the Boston institution and then selling them, federal prosecutors said.

Cedric Lodge, 57, of Goffstown, New Hampshire, pleaded guilty to transporting stolen human remains, the Department of Justice said Thursday.

He pleaded guilty during a change of plea hearing Wednesday in federal court in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. He faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000, according to his plea agreement.

Lodge, who had managed the morgue for the Anatomical Gifts Program at Harvard Medical School, admitted to transporting and selling the stolen human remains across multiple states from 2018 to at least March 2020, prosecutors said.

While employed by the morgue, he "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," the U.S. District Court Middle District of Pennsylvania said in a press release.

He then took them to his home and, along with his wife, sold them to people in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania, prosecutors said. The transactions totaled in the tens of thousands of dollars, according to the indictment.

Lodge's attorney declined to comment on the case Thursday.

Harvard Medical School terminated Lodge's employment in May 2023, school officials said following his indictment, calling the activities an "abhorrent betrayal" and "morally reprehensible." Lodge acted "without the knowledge or cooperation of anyone else" at the institution, the school said.

Several other individuals have also pleaded guilty to interstate transport of stolen human remains in related cases, including Lodge's wife, Denise Lodge, who is awaiting sentencing, prosecutors said.

Georgia teen detained by ICE after mistaken traffic stop granted bond: Attorney

(DALTON, Ga) -- A Georgia teenager who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement after being mistakenly stopped for a traffic infraction she did not commit earlier this month was granted bond Wednesday, according to her attorney.

Ximena Arias-Cristobal, 19, was arrested on May 5 in Dalton, Georgia, when her dark gray truck was mistaken for a black pickup that made an illegal turn, authorities said. The local police department and prosecuting attorney dismissed charges against her related to the mistaken traffic stop, though she was detained by ICE agents for being in the country illegally.

The Department of Homeland Security said following her detainment that it is committed to ordering Arias-Cristobal to "self-deport" to Mexico and that she "admitted to illegally entering the United States and has no pending applications with USCIS."

During a bond hearing on Wednesday, Arias-Cristobal was granted $1,500 bond, the minimum amount possible under the law, according to her attorney.

"The government did not wish to appeal. The family will pay the bond ASAP and Ximena will be home with her family tomorrow afternoon at the latest," her attorney, Dustin Baxter, said in a statement.

The next hearing in the case has not been scheduled, another one of her attorneys, Charles Kuck, told ABC Chattanooga, Tennessee, affiliate WTVC, adding, "It would be remarkable if it is before mid-2026."

Arias-Cristobal, a student at Dalton State College, was being held at the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, ICE records show.

The teen came to the U.S. with her parents when she was 4 years old and is ineligible for relief from deportation through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which temporarily protects some migrants from deportation if they were brought to the country as children, an attorney for Arias-Cristobal told ABC News.

Arias-Cristobal was not eligible to register for the DACA program because it ended before she became eligible to apply at 16 years old.

Her father, Jose Francisco Arias-Tovar, was separately detained by police -- and later ICE -- two weeks before his daughter for speeding and driving without a license, according to DHS. Her father was released on bond from ICE custody last week, WTVC reported.

"Both father and daughter were in this country illegally and they have to face the consequences," DHS said in a statement last week. "The United States is offering aliens like this father and daughter $1,000 apiece and a free flight to self-deport now. We encourage every person here illegally to take advantage of this offer and reserve the chance to come back to the U.S. the right legal way to live the American dream. If not, you will be arrested and deported without a chance to return."

ABC News' Nadine El-Bawab and Armando Garcia contributed to this report.

Gaza ceasefire talks have not led anywhere, Qatari PM says

(DOHA, QATAR) -- The recent Gaza ceasefire talks in Qatar have not led anywhere yet, the Qatari prime minister said Tuesday, citing a "fundamental gap" between the two parties, Israel and Hamas.

"One party is looking for a partial deal that might or have the possibility to lead to a comprehensive deal and the other party is looking just for a one-off deal and to end the war and to get all the hostages out," Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said during a press briefing Tuesday. "And we couldn't bridge this fundamental gap with whatever proposals we have provided."

Rounds of negotiations have been ongoing in Doha over the past couple of weeks, he said.

Hamas claimed Tuesday that Israel has not been serious about the negotiations, saying in a statement that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "is extending his delegation's stay in Doha on a day-to-day basis without engaging in any serious negotiations, and no real talks have taken place since last Saturday."

The Israeli Prime Minister's Office claimed Tuesday that Hamas is refusing the American proposal for the return of the hostages.

"After approximately one week of intensive contacts in Doha, the senior members of the negotiating team will return to Israel for consultations; the working echelon will -- at present -- remain in Doha," the office said.

The Israeli Prime Minister's Office said in a statement on Sunday that the Israeli negotiation team is working to "exhaust every chance of a deal," including one that would include "the release of all hostages, the expulsion of Hamas terrorists [from Gaza], and the disarmament of the Strip."

Amid the ceasefire talks, the Israel Defense Forces announced on Sunday the start of a new "extensive ground operation" throughout northern and southern Gaza.

The escalation has been met with condemnation from the leaders of the United Kingdom, France and Canada, who called on Israel in a joint statement on Monday to stop its military operations and immediately allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza, otherwise they "will take further concrete actions in response."

U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy subsequently announced Tuesday that the U.K. has suspended negotiations with Israel on a new free trade agreement and will impose sanctions on West Bank settlers, saying, "Despite our efforts, this Israeli government's egregious actions and rhetoric have continued."

Netanyahu had pushed back against the joint statement in a statement on X on Monday, saying that by "asking Israel to end a defensive war for our survival before Hamas terrorists on our border are destroyed," the leaders in London, Ottawa and Paris are "offering a huge prize for the genocidal attack on Israel on October 7 while inviting more such atrocities."

"The war can end tomorrow if the remaining hostages are released, Hamas lays down its arms, its murderous leaders are exiled and Gaza is demilitarized. No nation can be expected to accept anything less and Israel certainly won't," Netanyahu said.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry also brushed off the U.K.'s announcements on the free trade talks and sanctions on Tuesday, saying, "External pressure will not divert Israel from its path in defending its existence and security against enemies who seek its destruction."

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