A Kansas man has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for his involvement in the theft and sale of human remains. The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Chief Judge Matthew W. Brann delivered the sentence to Angelo Pereyra, 39, from Wichita, Kansas. Pereyra was convicted of interstate transport of stolen human remains and body parts.
United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam stated that Pereyra had pleaded guilty to a Criminal Information. He admitted to stealing human remains and body parts from a Kansas hospital where he worked as a pathology assistant between 2018 and 2022. The stolen items included organs such as hearts, brains, spleens, testicles, intestines, livers, amputated feet and toes, among others. Some specimens were taken from deceased individuals while others were from living patients. Notably, Pereyra also stole the corpses of miscarried and stillborn fetuses before they could be buried properly.
Pereyra sold these stolen specimens to Andrew Ensanian in Montgomery, Pennsylvania, shipping them via the U.S. Postal Service from Kansas to Pennsylvania. Ensanian has also pleaded guilty to the same charges and is awaiting sentencing.
This case is part of a broader investigation into nationwide trafficking of stolen human remains. Several defendants have been charged in the Middle District of Pennsylvania with five entering guilty pleas so far. Another defendant has been charged and convicted in Arkansas.
The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation along with the United States Postal Inspection Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean A. Camoni is leading the prosecution.