Morticians plead guilty to body snatching

PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- Two Philadelphia morticians have pleaded guilty to being part of a body-snatching ring that illegally harvested parts for surgical usage.

Louis Garzone, 65, and his brother, Gerald, 48, allegedly collected $1,000 a corpse for letting a North Jersey tissue bank dismember 244 bodies, some infected with HIV or hepatitis, without permission from relatives, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. They could be sentenced to life in prison. Sentencing was set for Oct. 22, the report said.

The Garzones' pleas came as jury selection in their trial was set to begin. Three others have pleaded guilty in the scheme and were reportedly prepared to testify against them.

They included the founder of Biomedical Tissue Services, Michael Mastromarino, 44, a former oral surgeon who is serving an 18- to 54-year prison term in New York resulting from similar convictions. He allegedly earned $4 million harvesting and selling parts from 1,077 bodies obtained from funeral homes in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Also agreeing to testify against the Garzones were James J. McCafferty, their partner in a Philadelphia crematorium, and the "chief cutter" from Mastromarino's tissue harvesting operation, the Inquirer said.