Henry Reid, formerly the director of UCLA’s Willed Body Program pleaded guilty to conspiring to steal body parts over a five-year period. Mr. Reid stole the parts from the university and sold them to another man, who allegedly collected more than a million dollars for the sales.

Reid took over the university’s body donation program, and according to his attorney, succumbed to the temptation of selling the body parts for his own profit, in part because he was underpaid. The stolen body parts were sold to medical research companies and other research institutions. The thefts were first discovered in 2004. The university performed an audit of Reid’s program that showed that hundreds of donated bodies were unaccounted for and that remaining body parts had been mishandled. Following the discovery, the university discontinued its body donation program for more than a year and a half.

Both men were indicted by a grand jury earlier this year. Reid will cooperate with prosecutors in the trial of the other man, Ernest Nelson. According to Reid’s attorney, his client’s guilty plea came as the result of “overwhelming proof of guilt.” As part of the plea agreement, Reid will be sentenced to 52 months in prison and will be required to pay restitution of between $100,000 and $1 million. He will be formally sentenced in January.

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Photo Credit: filipe frade