LANCASTER (AP) — A former funeral home apprentice has pleaded not guilty to stealing gold crowns from the teeth of corpses in the Antelope Valley.

Pete Lara, 39, entered pleas Wednesday to more than two dozen felony counts, mostly burglary but also grand theft and possession of methamphetamine.

Authorities say Lara was an apprentice embalmer at Halley-Olsen-Murphy Funeral Home in Lancaster when he began taking the dental crowns last year, along with medallions from funeral urns.