Detroit businessman jailed for selling, leasing human body parts
He sold parts infected with HIV or hepatitis from 1997 to 2013
DETROIT A Detroit businessman who sold and leased body parts was sentenced to nine years' jail for selling diseased remains to medical educators.
Arthur Rathburn, 64, is the third person convicted as part of a national investigation into the largely unregulated market for body parts in the US.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is also investigating other so-called body brokers in Illinois, Oregon and Colorado.
Prosecutors said Rathburn earned US$13 million (S$17.5 million) from 1997 to 2013 by selling or leasing human remains that had been donated to science.
In January, an FBI agent testified that Rathburn took little care as he stockpiled body parts in freezers at his Detroit warehouse. The agent said parts from donors were "frozen together in flesh-on-flesh chunks".
Among the relatives of those whose bodies ended up in Rathburn's warehouse is Ms Tracy Smolka of Kankakee, Illinois.
Her father, Randolph Wright, died in 2010. Three years later, the FBI found her father's head in Rathburn's freezer.
"I hope you burn in hell," Ms Smolka told him in court. "And when you get there, make sure to tell the Devil I sent you."
Rathburn was not prosecuted for his treatment of human remains. US law governs only body parts intended for transplantation, such as hearts and livers. Rathburn was convicted of defrauding customers and violating hazardous shipping laws.
He supplied unwitting medical educators with parts infected with HIV or hepatitis at least 120 times from 1997 to 2013.
Rathburn spoke during the sentencing hearing.He blamed mistakes on others and portrayed his lab as "perfect".
He described himself as a scientist "ahead of his time".
Rathburn's ex-wife, Elizabeth, and one of their suppliers, Steve Gore, were convicted of fraud. They were sentenced to probation and testified against Rathburn. - REUTERS
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