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Michigan diseased body parts dealer to be sentenced today

No one was infected, but the government says Arthur Rathburn's customers and airport employees were at risk.
Credit: Regina H. Boone, Detroit Free Press
Arthur Rathburn of Grosse Pointe Park walks out of Theodore Levin United States Courthouse in Detroit on Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2016. His bond was revoked in March.

DETROIT, Mich. - Prosecutors are seeking a 14-year prison sentence for a Grosee Pointe Park man convicted of dealing diseased body parts for medical training.

Arthur Rathburn is returning to Detroit federal court on Monday, four months after he was convicted of fraud and shipping hazardous material.

The sale of human remains is unusual but mostly legal, especially when body parts are used for medical training. But Rathburn was accused of failing to disclose that the parts had tested positive for diseases.

No one was infected, but the government says Rathburn's customers and airport employees were at risk. In response, Rathburn's lawyers say his business contracts stated that a lack of disease wasn't guaranteed.

Rathburn has been in custody for two years after his bond was revoked while awaiting trial.

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