Trial begins for man accused in cadaver scheme at UCLA

A man accused of buying and reselling human body parts donated to UCLA’s medical school reaped about $1.5 million in the scheme with the director of the cadaver program, a prosecutor said Wednesday.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Marisa Zarate told jurors that the actions of Ernest Nelson, who ran a business transporting body parts to hospitals and medical research companies, contributed to the scandal that tarnished the reputation of the willed body program at UCLA.

Nelson and Henry Reid, then the director of the program, devised the scam in 1999, Zarate said during her opening statement at the trial.

“That’s when the willed body program became derailed,” she said. “They could profit by joining forces.”

Nelson, 51, of Rancho Cucamonga has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit grand theft, grand theft by embezzlement and tax evasion. If convicted, Nelson faces more than six years in prison.

Defense attorney Sean McDonald told jurors that his client ran a reputable business and came across a corrupt director in Reid and a program that was in disarray.

The lawyer said that Nelson’s payments to Reid were legitimate and that there was no conspiracy between the two men as prosecutors allege.

“The problem is that Henry Reid wasn’t forwarding the money to UCLA; he was pocketing it,” McDonald said. “Henry Reid did this to himself.”

Reid pleaded guilty in October to one count of conspiracy to commit grand theft and was sentenced to more than four years in prison.

Under his plea deal, other charges were dismissed.

Nelson has said he believed he was acting under UCLA authorization when he bought the donated torsos, which he cut up and kept frozen in a rented warehouse until they were sold.

Zarate described Nelson as a middleman who paid Reid a total of $43,000 for the remains. To help cover the scheme, Reid wrote a letter saying Nelson was authorized to release human parts, Zarate said.

The plan unraveled after a state health investigator became concerned about a sale in 2003 and contacted the university. Reid and Nelson were arrested in 2004, then freed while the investigation continued.