Star 'pathologist' who performed numerous autopsies was a conman using fake credentials, says DOJ

• Shawn Lynn Parcells, 42, was sentenced on Monday to five years and nine months in prison.
• He pleaded guilty in May to one count of wire fraud relating to the carrying out of an illegal autopsy, per the DOJ.

A Kansas businessman was sentenced on Monday to five years and nine months in prison after pleading guilty in May to one count of wire fraud relating to the carrying out an illegal autopsy, the US Department of Justice said.

Shawn Lynn Parcells, 42, of Topeka, used his business, National Autopsy Services LLC, to obtain fees from more than 350 clients for a total amount of $1,166,000 over three years between 2016 and 2019, according to court documents.

"In many cases, the defendant failed to provide an authentic, completed report," the Justice Department said in a press release on Monday.

In one instance, in July 2016, Parcells convinced a client he was qualified to perform an autopsy based on false credentials, the Justice Department said.

The client paid $5,000 to Parcells, receiving an emailed copy of an autopsy report from him that included an opinion made within "a certain degree of medical certainty as a Forensic, Neuro, and Infectious Disease Epidemiology Fellow," per the Justice Department.

No pathologist participated in the examination or report, which appeared to be authored by Parcells, who lacked the necessary medical credentials, the Justice Department said.

"It's troubling whenever criminals deceptively present themselves as professionals to commit fraud on unwitting victims," said US Attorney Duston Slinkard, per the press release. "But the fact that Parcells' schemes were predicated upon exploiting the grief and bereavement of others makes his act a particularly predatory crime."

The FBI Special Agent in Charge, Charles Dayoub, said in the press release that Parcells "willfully defrauded individuals while they were grieving."

He continued: "He used deception to prey on those looking to find answers surrounding the death of their loved ones by claiming to be a pathologist and being able to provide those answers. Mr. Parcells fraudulently collected fees and profited on their grief for his own personal gain."

Parcells became an "overnight media star" in 2014, according to CNN, when he assisted in an autopsy commissioned by the family of Michael Brown — an unarmed Black man who was fatally shot by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri.

A CNN investigation found that he said he sometimes performed autopsy procedures without a physician present despite having no formal education in pathology.

In November last year, Parcells was convicted in Wabaunsee County on three felony counts of theft and three misdemeanor counts of criminal desecration. He has yet to be sentenced for these criminal charges. In August of this year, a Kansas county district judge banned Parcells from doing business in the state in services related to the body or healing. He was also ordered to pay more than $250,000 in restitution.