AP - A former oral surgeon has agreed to plead guilty to US charges that he orchestrated a grisly plot to plunder corpses and sell body parts for transplants, his lawyer says.
The plea marks a significant development in a case that broke two years ago with the accusations that Michael Mastromarino was making millions of dollars by covertly carving up hundreds of corpses at a New York funeral home and selling the parts for dental implants, hip replacements and other procedures across the United States.
Mastromarino "was facing a daunting battle and he sees this as his best opportunity to accept responsibility and move on," the lawyer, Mario Gallucci, said.
Prosecutors in New York had no immediate comment; their Philadelphia counterparts did not immediately respond to a phone message.
The bodies were looted without permission or proper screening for diseases, and an untold number of patients were unknowingly exposed to infection, prosecutors said. Among the bodies was that of Masterpiece Theatre host Alistair Cooke, who died in 2004.
Prosecutors said the defendants had made a crude attempt to hide their work by sewing PVC pipe into the bodies in time for open-casket services.
Mastromarino, 44, was charged in 2006 with enterprise corruption, body stealing, opening graves, unlawful dissection and forgery.
Also charged were a mortician named Joseph Nicelli and two so-called "cutters," Lee Cruceta and Christopher Aldorasi.
Since then, seven funeral directors have pleaded guilty to undisclosed charges and agreed to cooperate.
Mastromarino, who remains in jail, had been expected to go to trial as early as next month. His lawyer said instead he will enter the guilty plea on January 22 and face 18 to 54 years in prison.
About 10,000 people received tissue supplied by his company, Biomedical Tissue Services.
As part of the deal, Mastromarino would cooperate with an inquiry by federal and state investigators into possible misconduct by the tissue processors that bought the stolen parts, his lawyer said.
The processors "loved his tissue and encouraged him to get more and more," he said.
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