A Los Angeles County jury found Ernest Nelson guilty on Thursday of selling body parts, donated to UCLA’s medical school, for personal profit.
The jury convicted him of committing eight counts of grand theft by embezzlement, tax evasion and conspiracy to commit grand theft, according to a university statement.
“Our department worked hard to present a strong case, and I’m very pleased with the results of this long, laborious investigation,” said Leo Del Rosario, one of three UCPD detectives who worked on the case.
The conviction comes after a four-year UCPD investigation revealed Nelson sold $1.5 million in body parts between May 1999 and February 2004, Del Rosario said.
Henry Reid, the director of the UCLA willed body program at the time, gave the body parts to Nelson, who then distributed them to research companies across the country, Del Rosario said.
He added that Nelson had no affiliation with UCLA.
For his role in the scandal, Reid pled guilty to conspiracy to commit grand theft in Oct. 2008. He was sentenced to 52 months in prison and was ordered to pay $500,000 in restitution to UCLA, according to Daily Bruin archives.
UCPD began investigating the case in March 2004 and examined over 100,000 documents before filing a case against Nelson in March 2007, Del Rosario said.
Nelson has been held in custody since the case was filed.
The scheme between Reid and Nelson was discovered in February 2004 after an internal audit revealed discrepancies in the donated body parts department, said Dale Tate, a health sciences spokeswoman.
Reid left his post as donated body director after being arrested in 2004, Tate said.
The UCLA donated body program shut down for more than 18 months after allegations of misconduct came to light.
Since reopening, the program has instituted a number of changes to ensure the protection of donated body parts, Tate said.
These changes include revamped facilities, increased security measures and a more detailed method for tracing bodies.
According to a health sciences department statement, “The university is confident that these measures will ensure that donors’ generosity will be used only to advance scientific research and medical students’ education.”