Detroit Man Gets Probation In Theft Of Dad's Body

DETROIT (WWJ) - A Detroit man will not serve additional jail time for stealing his dead father's body from an east side cemetery.

In Wayne County's 3rd Circuit Court on Tuesday, 49-year-old Vincent Bright was sentenced to 18 months probation and received credit for 225 days served.

But Judge James Chylinski admonished Bright to stay on his medication and continue mental health treatment, or else:

"If you don't do that, I've got to lock you up," Chylinski said.

In August, Bright pleaded guilty to a charge of disinterring a body — which could have brought up to 10 years in prison.

Bright stole the body of 93-year-old Clarence Bright from Gethsemane Cemetery on Jan. 14, just hours before it was to be buried. Police, acting on a tip from other family members, later found the corpse in a freezer at Bright's Detroit home.

Police said Bright is religious and took the body in hopes his father would be resurrected.

Bright's attorney, Gerald Karafa, said his client was deeply disturbed and in need of mental heath attention at the time of the crime.

"You know, he didn't get in any trouble for a long time until something like this happened," said Karafa. "and he lost his father, he lost his mother — he went through a lot of hard times."

Karafa said Bright's family has been supportive.

"Actually, there was a statement in there from one of his brothers that they did not want him to be incarcerated. He just went though a bad period, and [he was] under a lot of stress."