Prosecutor: Man who resold donated body parts made $1.5M in scheme with ex-UCLA official

Prosecutor: UCLA body part scheme netted $1.5M

LOS ANGELES — Prosecutors say a man made about $1.5 million from a conspiracy with a school official to resell human body parts donated to the University of California medical school.

Deputy District Attorney Marisa Zarate said during opening statements Wednesday that 51-year-old Ernest Nelson devised the scheme with former UCLA cadaver program director Henry Reid in 1999.

Nelson is accused of buying hundreds of body parts from Reid. He has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit grand theft, grand theft and grand theft of personal property.

Defense attorney Sean McDonald says Nelson ran a reputable business but Reid was corrupt.

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