Investigators hit Monroe man with more charges in body parts case

An Orange County man is facing more charges in the investigation into a scheme to illegally sell body parts. Lee Cruceta of Monroe and three others have already been accused of cutting up at least a thousand

News 12 Staff

May 29, 2014, 7:00 PM

Updated 3,711 days ago

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An Orange County man is facing more charges in the investigation into a scheme to illegally sell body parts. Lee Cruceta of Monroe and three others have already been accused of cutting up at least a thousand corpses at a Brooklyn funeral home and selling the parts for profit. A new indictment Wednesday said the scheme also involved funeral homes in the Bronx, Manhattan and Rochester.Seven funeral directors have pleaded guilty and are expected to help the prosecution in the investigation. The probe began when detectives looked into accounting issues at the Daniel George and Sons funeral home in Brooklyn. Investigators said men there removed bones, tendons and tissue in a secret room and sold them to transplant companies. Police say the ringleader was Michael Mastromarino, a former dentist. They claim he made millions from the sales. If convicted, Cruceta and the three other men could each get 25 years in prison.


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