Mastermind of body-parts scheme dies in prison

Michael Mastromarino, the mastermind of a multimillion-dollar scheme to harvest body parts from cadavers - including 244 from Philadelphia - for use in surgeries, died Sunday while serving a prison sentence in New York, authorities announced Tuesday.

Mastromarino, 49, died of complications from cancer, his lawyer said. He was serving an 18- to 54-year sentence.

The New Jersey oral surgeon sent his "cutting team" to Philadelphia to collect bone and tissue from bodies handled by Garzone Funeral Home Inc., which had branches in Kensington and Hunting Park.

Louis and Gerald Garzone, brothers who owned the funeral homes, pleaded guilty in the Philadelphia part of the case in 2008 and were each sentenced to eight to 20 years in prison.

James A. McCafferty Jr., a Philadelphia funeral director who co-owned a Kensington crematorium with the Garzones, was sentenced to 31/2 to 10 years after pleading guilty. The bodies were cremated after parts were taken from them.

Mastromarino, who had been stripped of his dental license for drug offenses, owned Biomedical Tissue Services Inc. in Fort Lee, N.J.

Authorities said that he made nearly $4 million illegally selling parts from 1,077 bodies from funeral homes in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. One of the New York cadavers was that of Masterpiece Theater host Alistair Cooke, who died of cancer in 2004.

Federal health officials said as many as 13,000 people might have received bone or tissue taken illegally by Mastromarino.

Some of the body parts contained cancer cells or were infected by HIV or hepatitis.

Only 49 of the 244 Philadelphia bodies were identified. The Garzones did not identify the cadavers sold to Mastromarino for $1,000 each.

In gruesome detail, authorities described how Mastromarino had relied on time-consuming surgical methods to remove bone and tissue from bodies.

But after he made a deal for bodies that were destined to be cremated, his cutting team could flay the bodies and leave the bloody remains in a body bag.

Mastromarino pleaded guilty in Philadelphia in 2008 and was sentenced to 25 to 58 years.

At his sentencing, he said his conduct was "nothing less than disgusting and embarrassing."

The case caused anguish for families of deceased loved ones and recipients of the body parts.