WARWICK, RI–The New York Times has reported that a Rhode Island judge has accepted "no contest" pleas from the co-owners of the Station, a nightclub where 100 people died in a fire in 2003. The plea allowed one of the owners to avoid jail and left a number of the relatives of those who died in the fire in anguish over the agreement. Francis J Darigan Jr., presiding judge acknowledged that many relatives found the agreement inadequate but said he would press forward with it. The plea bargain decrees Jeffrey A. Derderian, 39, to be sentenced to only 500 hours of community service and no jail time while brother Michael, 45, will receive four years in jail.
The Derderian brothers installed an acoustical treatment in the popular nightclub, and those materials quickly exploded into flame when assistants for the band set off fireworks in connection with the concert.
The brothers were charged with two hundred counts of involuntary manslaughter, two for each person who died in the February 2003 blaze.
Relatives complained they felt let down by the lack of a trial and lenient sentences, Judge Darigan responded "I can understand your dissatisfaction with the process."
A third defendant, Daniel M. Biechele, tour manager for Great White who set off the fireworks, pleaded guilty to 100 counts of manslaughter and received a four years sentence.
Family members offered emotionally wrenching testimony as they spoke of their loss. One man's daughter-in-law gave birth to a child, four days after her husband's funeral.
