An Ohio University employee pleaded not guilty to being involved in the theft and sale of human bones and preserved remains from a university anatomy lab at his arraignment in the Athens County Common Pleas Court last week.
Jerry Reed, 49, of Bremen, Ohio, signed a release of recognizance, promising the court that he will stay in Ohio, abide all laws, refrain from alcohol and drug use and submit fingerprints in exchange for his freedom from incarceration until his April 22 pretrial, according to court documents.
He was indicted Jan. 13 for one charge of obstructing justice, a felony of the fifth degree, which could result in prison for up to one year if convicted.
Reed is accused of tipping off former OU-HCOM employee Weston Henri Moquin that authorities were looking into the stolen bones. Reed entered his innocent plea Feb. 20.
OU spokeswoman Katie Quaranta said Reed was the director of medical informatics before he was placed on paid administrative leave from the university.
The thefts took place from November 2012 through February of last year, according to a previous Post article. The stolen teaching materials include human bones, skulls, skeletons and other materials from the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine owned by the university.
Moquin, of Athens, was indicted in the Southern District of Ohio Federal Court and pleaded guilty to one count of interstate transportation of stolen property and one count of theft from a program receiving federal funds, according to a previous Post article.
Quaranta said Moquin was fired for “job abandonment” in September 2012, but did not know how long it had been since Moquin stopped showing up for work before his employment ended.
Each of Moquin’s crimes carries a maximum of ten years imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southeastern District of Ohio.
Moquin, 28, admitted to selling the human remains that he stole, primarily through his eBay account, according to the release.
The majority of the materials were shipped to customers in California, Utah and Oregon and earned Moquin more than $84,000. Per a plea agreement, Moquin will pay restitution to the university, but the release did not specify how much he will have to pay.
The release also stated that Southern District of Ohio Judge Peter Economus will determine Moquin’s sentence following an investigation by the court, which a federal court official said usually takes “a month or two.”
Although Moquin’s plea was accepted in January, the official said that he does not expect a decision to be made until mid-April.
@KellyPFisher
kf398711@ohiou.edu
