American pleads guilty of stealing dead dad's body

DETROIT (AP) — A man accused of stealing his father's body from a Detroit cemetery with the hope of bringing him back to life has pleaded guilty in exchange for avoiding prison.

Vincent Bright pleaded guilty Monday to a charge of disinterring a body. He faces sentencing Sept. 24 in county Circuit Court.

"He seems to be doing well," defense lawyer Gerald Karafa told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

In exchange for the guilty plea, he said Bright will get probation with credit for time served. The judge ruled that Bright could be released on bail, Karafa said.

A presentencing review will help determine the details of Bright's probation, he said.

A conviction on the disinterring a body charge could have brought up to 10 years in prison.

Bright, then 48, stole the body of 93-year-old Clarence Bright from Gethsemane Cemetery on Jan. 14 and stored it in a home freezer. Police, acting on a tip from other family members, found the corpse in Vincent Bright's home on Detroit's east side.

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

Prosecutors sought a mental health examination for Bright, and he was found competent to stand trial.