The mastermind of the gang that stole parts of the corpse of the broadcaster Alistair Cooke struck a plea deal with prosecutors yesterday that could send him to prison for decades.

Michael Mastromarino, 44, a former dentist, pleaded guilty in a New York court to paying undertakers to allow his “cutters” to plunder bodies for bones and tissue for use in surgical procedures.

He faces between 18 and 54 years in prison for crimes including body stealing, grand larceny and forgery, and will forfeit $4.68 million (£2.3 million). The guilty-plea deal means that Mastromarino will not have to go before a jury where all the evidence would be aired.

Susan Cooke Kittredge, the daughter of the Letter from America broadcaster, said she feared that the plea deal could lead to a cover-up of the black market in body parts. “It brings me no sense of closure. If anything it leaves me wondering what the next step is,” she told The Times. “I feel less confidence that we in the public are going to find out what went on because there is not going to be a trial.”

Mastromarino once ran a dental practice in Fifth Avenue, New York, that specialised in dental implant surgery. He was forced to surrender his licence and go into drug rehabilitation after he was sued for malpractice.

He set up Biomedical Tissue Services, a New Jersey company that shipped bones, skin and tendons to tissue processors such as Regeneration Technologies, LifeCell Corporation and Tutogen Medical.

Prosecutors said that Mastromarino paid undertakers to let his “cutters” butcher corpses. The body-snatching ring earned almost $5 million by selling skin, bones, heart valves and other tissue from 1,077 corpses for use in surgery.

Medical records revealed that Cooke’s body was carved up at a New York funeral home after his death from cancer four years ago at the age of 95. His arms, legs and pelvis were taken. The arms and legs were sent to Regeneration Technologies in Florida, which says Cooke’s bones were never transplanted into anyone. The documents listed Cooke’s age as 85, making his body appear younger than it was, and his cause of death as “cardiopulmonary arrest”, because cancerous tissue is not used.

Although he died just after midnight on March 30, 2004, the time of death was given as 6.45am, apparently to make the body appear “fresher” than it was. The broadcaster’s name was misspelt as “Alister” and his social security number and his doctor’s name were wrong. The consent form purporting to authorise the donation of body parts listed his daughter as a Susan Quint.

Mastromarino confessed that he forged records, including the times of death and ages, and switched blood and tissue samples.

“What he did was wrong,” said Mario Gallucci, Mastromarino’s defence lawyer. “I feel horrible for the victims in this case. There is no excuse for what he did.”

Prosecutors had tried to back out of the plea bargain this month after discovering the “scope, depth, nature and effect” of the crimes. But Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Albert Tomei ordered US prosecutors to honour the plea deal reached in January because Mastromarino had fulfilled his side of the bargain and co-operated with investigators.

In January Mastromarino’s chief “cutter”, Lee Cruceta, pleaded guilty to carving body parts from 244 corpses and forging the paperwork. Cases continue against two other alleged accomplices: Christopher Aldorasi and Joseph Nicelli.

Lawyers believe that about 40 unsuspecting British patients received the stolen bone graft material. Plus Orthopedics, of Swindon, bought tissue and bone from Regeneration Technologies, and up to 82 units of affected bone graft material were implanted in patients across Britain.

The tissue processing companies that Mastromarino supplied in the US face hundreds of civil lawsuits from patients who received transplants and the families of people whose bodies were plundered.

Ms Cooke Kittredge called for tighter controls. “It would not have taken very much effort on the part of the tissue processing companies to have rung me up and asked for verification of my signature and the medical information on my father’s charts, almost all of which was false,” she said.

Times Recommends

• Michael Jackson: Not the final chapter
• Indian Army spends10m rupees on golf buggies
• Sacha Baron Cohen forced to tone down Brüno