Master ghoul in body parts scam wants plea deal
Sunday, April 6th 2008, 4:00 AM
A former oral surgeon who admitted trafficking stolen body parts in New York is now trying to cut a deal in Philadelphia to avoid serving more time for a similar body-snatching charge.
Michael Mastromarino wants his latest sentence to run concurrently with the 18- to 54-year sentence he is already serving – meaning he would not spend one extra day in jail. But prosecutors are balking at the two-for-one proposal and want the so-called master ghoul to serve an additional 20 to 40 years in the slammer.
Mastromarino, 44, was the boss of a multimillion-dollar body-snatching ring that plundered at least 44 corpses, according to Philadelphia prosecutors. He has already pleaded guilty to carving up hundreds of corpses at area funeral homes in New York and illegally selling body parts. He was sentenced in that case last year.
Mastromarino did not appear at a pretrial hearing in Philadelphia on Friday but defense lawyer Charles Peruto Jr. vowed to push for concurrent sentences.
With News Wire Services