Kansas man accused of scamming people through his autopsy business pleads guilty to fraud
A Kansas man accused of scamming people out of more than $1 million through his autopsy business pleaded guilty to a federal fraud charge Thursday.
Shawn Parcells, a self-taught pathologist from Leawood, Kansas, pleaded guilty in federal court in Topeka. Under sentencing guidelines, Parcells could face up to 20 years in prison and be fined up to $250,000, according to court records.
In February, Parcells announced an intent to change his plea. He is scheduled for sentencing Aug. 25 and nine other counts remain pending.
A federal grand jury indicted Parcells on 10 counts of wire fraud in November 2020. Parcells created his business, National Autopsy Services, LLC in 2016, according to the indictment. He had previously worked as a pathologists’ assistant for the Jackson County Medical Examiner’s office before starting his business. Parcells never received a board certification to become a pathologists’ assistant.
Through his business, which said on its website it was headquartered in Topeka, Parcells claimed to offer private autopsies, forensic pathology services and tissue recovery services for families, attorneys and research institutions.
Between 2016 and 2019, Parcells allegedly received fees from 375 clients to perform autopsies, totaling more than $1.1 million. Prosecutors say Parcells told clients their cases would be handled by a pathologist and included the name of a licensed pathologist on reports given to families. But no licensed pathologist worked on any of the cases, according to prosecutors.
Parcells has faced trouble before for services he provided.
In 2019, a Shawnee County district judge temporarily banned Parcells and his companies from conducting autopsies, forensic pathology and tissue recovery until a lawsuit alleging violations of Kansas’ consumer protection and false claims acts was resolved.
In November 2021, he was convicted of three misdemeanor counts of criminal desecration and three felony counts of theft in Wabaunsee County. The case was prosecuted by the Kansas Attorney General’s Office.
Parcells made national news in 2014 after he helped with the private autopsy of Michael Brown, who was killed by police in Ferguson, Missouri. In 2013, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that some Missouri medical examiners questioned whether he had a medical license, inflated his qualifications and listed doctors who weren’t present at autopsies on reports.
CNN also did an investigation into Parcells which found that he had lied about some of his credentials. Parcells told the network that he was an adjunct professor at Washburn University. A spokeswoman for the university told CNN he had never been a faculty member.
This story was originally published May 27, 2022 at 8:47 AM.
