Former mortuary employee Candace Chapman Scott, 37, of Little Rock, Arkansas, pleaded responsible to transporting stolen physique components throughout state traces and conspiracy to commit mail fraud. She offered 24 containers of stolen physique components from medical faculty cadavers to a Pennsylvania man for nearly $11,000. Scott stole the physique components and fetal stays whereas working for a mortuary companies supplier between October 2021 and July 2022, arranging for them to be transported throughout state traces to the purchaser. An legal professional representing Scott declined to touch upon the case.
Scott was employed at Arkansas Central Mortuary Companies the place she would transport, cremate, and embalm stays. The College of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock had despatched cadaver stays that had been donated for medical college students to look at to this mortuary service. Scott was indicted in April 2023 and charged with six counts of wire fraud, 4 counts of mail fraud, and two counts of interstate transportation of stolen property. She faces as much as 10 years in jail on the transporting stolen property cost, and as much as 20 years in jail for the mail fraud cost. She will probably be sentenced at a later date.
The plea settlement resulted in prosecutors dropping 10 different wire and mail expenses in opposition to Scott. She will probably be sentenced at a later date for her involvement within the scheme to steal and promote human physique components from the Arkansas mortuary and Harvard Medical College. Donna Mendell contributed to the case. No additional data was supplied relating to the opposite defendants charged on this scheme, or their present authorized standing.
The case of Scott highlights a disturbing development of people concerned within the illicit commerce of human physique components. The truth that she was in a position to steal and promote these physique components from donated cadavers meant for medical schooling is especially troubling. The College of Arkansas for Medical Sciences should put stricter measures in place to stop such thefts sooner or later and make sure the sanctity of cadaver donation for academic functions.
It’s important to carry people like Scott accountable for his or her actions to discourage others from participating in related felony actions. The penalties she faces, as much as 10 years in jail for transporting stolen property and as much as 20 years for mail fraud, mirror the seriousness of her crimes. The authorized system should be certain that justice is served for the victims whose physique components had been stolen and offered on this scheme. The involvement of a number of defendants within the nationwide scheme signifies the necessity for better oversight and regulation within the dealing with of human stays.