No Jail Time After Plea Agreement In 'Weekend At Bernie's' Case

DENVER (CBS4)- The two men who pleaded guilty to abuse of a corpse after they were accused of driving around with their dead friend in the car and using the man's credit cards, were sentenced Thursday.

Robert Young and Mark Rubinson both received two years of probation in exchange for their guilty pleas. They avoided jail time because family members of Jeff Jarret, their friend, agreed to let them have a chance to turn their lives around.

"They have compassion and willingness to allow them to have a second chance, a chance their own family member did not have," said Deputy District Attorney Kandace Gerdes.

Young and Rubinson's story has been compared the 1980′s movie "Weekend at Bernie's," where two men take their dead boss on a vacation.

Each blamed the other for what happened that August 2010 night when they took the body of Jarret, 43, with them as they went to visit bars and restaurants and also allegedly stopped at Shotgun Willie's, a strip club. They also took money out of Jarrett's account at an ATM. All that was before they told police their friend might be dead.

Security camera video from Shotgun Willie's shows Young and Rubinson.

The medical examiner said Jarrett died with cocaine and alcohol in his system.

The night apparently started when Young went to Jarret's home and found him unresponsive. Instead of calling for help, he and Rubinson put him in the car for a night out.

After he had died, they carried Jarret's body into his bedroom and went out and used his credit cards again.

Young, 43, had previously pleaded guilty to identity theft and abuse of a corpse. As part of the agreement, he must also undergo mental health evaluation and treatment, substance abuse assessment and treatment and cognitive behavioral therapy.

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He must also submit to random urine tests and breathalyser tests, perform 50 hours of community service and pay $1,289 in restitution, maintain full time employment and a permanent residence. Young must also write letters of apology to each of the victim's family members who spoke in court during the sentencing hearing.

Rubinson, 25, had previously pleaded guilty to abuse of a corpse. As part of the agreement, he must also undergo mental health evaluation and treatment and substance abuse assessment and treatment.

He must also submit to monitored sobriety with random urine tests and breathalyser tests, perform 200 hours of community service, pay $1,289 in restitution, maintain full time employment and maintain a permanent residence. Rubinson must also write letters of apology to each of the victim's family members who spoke in court during the sentencing hearing.

Young told CBS4 in an interview late last year that his good friend deserved better than that and that he felt bad about what happened.