An Arkansas woman charged with selling nearly $11,000 worth of stolen body parts to a Pennsylvania man has pleaded not guilty.
The indictment, unsealed last week in federal court in Little Rock, Arkansas, accuses Candace Chapman Scott of setting up transactions for the remains with the man she met through a Facebook group.
Scott pleaded not guilty to 12 counts, including conspiracy to commit mail fraud, mail fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property and interstate transportation of stolen property.
A hearing is scheduled for Tuesday on whether she will be released on bail.
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How did Scott get the body parts?
Scott worked at Arkansas Central Mortuary Services, where she transported, cremated and preserved remains. The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock sent remains of cadavers to the mortuary after they had been donated to the school for medical students to examine.
The indictment alleges Scott offered to sell remains from the medical school that the mortuary was supposed to cremate and return.
Who did Scott sell the remains to?
Separate state charges in Pennsylvania name the buyer as Jeremy Lee Pauley. He is not identified in the federal indictment. Scott messaged Pauley on Facebook in October 2021, the indictment alleges.
“Just out of curiosity, would you know anyone in the market for a fully in tact, embalmed brain?” she wrote to Pauley.
Over the next nine months, the indictment alleges that Scott sold Pauley fetuses, brains, hearts, lungs, genitalia, large pieces of skin and other body parts. Scott made $10,975 in 16 separate PayPal transfers.
Pauley is charged with a misdemeanor count of abuse of a corpse, a felony count of receiving stolen property, a misdemeanor count of receiving stolen property and a felony count of dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities.
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Contributing: The Associated Press
USA TODAY
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