Father, son accused of supplying black market with diseased body parts

A father and son in Chicago have been arrested and are facing federal charges, accused of selling diseased body parts on the black market.

Donald Greene Sr. and Donald Greene II. ran Biological Resource Center of Illinois, and promised families that bodies that were donated would be used for medical research, WBBM reported.

But the FBI says the Greens didn't fulfill the promises to further research. Rather, they sold body parts for cash, the television station reported.

A mother, according to a search warrant, said her son’s tissue would be used for research, but instead, the Greens are accused of selling the man’s remains for $5,000.

The warrant also accused the father and son of storing bodies that had HIV, sepsis and hepatitis on ice, and selling the remains for up to $100,000, according to WBBM.

Law enforcement officials said the scheme went on from 2008 to 2014.

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While it isn't technically illegal to sell body parts, it is against the law if the sellers know the bodies carried infectious diseases, WBBM reported.

Donald Greene Sr. is charged with wire fraud, while his son, Donald Greene Jr. was charged with intentionally concealing a crime, The Associated Press reported.

The charges were filed in relation to an investigation of a Detroit-area man who was sentenced to nine years in prison last year, according to the AP.

Arthur Rathburn was convicted of fraud and shipping hazardous materials for providing body parts to medical associations, without telling the receivers that the parts came from people with infectious diseases. The parts were used for seminars, the AP reported.

Cox Media Group