Funeral home 'body snatcher' sentenced

BROOKLYN, N.Y., Jan. 27 (UPI) -- A former Brooklyn funeral home director has been sentenced to eight to 24 years in prison for participating in a body-snatching scheme.

Joseph Nicelli, 53, had pleaded guilty to illegally selling human bone and tissue from cadavers for medical use. Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Albert Tomei Monday sentenced Nicelli to eight to 24 years after considering a shorter prison term, the New York Daily News reported.

Tomei said he instead imposed the harsher sentence because of the seriousness of the crime, rejecting Nicelli's plea for a lighter sentence in light of a shattered skull suffered in a 2007 construction accident.

Michael Mastromarino is already serving 18 to 54 years in connection with the body snatching case, the Daily News said.