Thursday, 4:30 PM
Derderian brothers sentenced in Station fire
(AP Photo/Bob Breidenbach, Pool)
Michael Derderian (left) and his brother Jeffrey (right) both gave statements today before they were sentenced in Kent County Superior Court in Warwick, R.I.
By Jonathan Saltzman and Megan Tench, Globe Staff, and Andrew Ryan, Globe Correspondent
Michael and Jeffrey Derderian, the two brothers who owned the Station nightclub where 100 people died in a 2003 fire, pleaded no contest this afternoon to 100 counts each of involuntary manslaughter.
The brothers stood stiffly before Superior Court Judge Francis J. Darigan Jr., answering his questions in hushed tones.
The judge summarized the state's case against the Derderian in stark terms, explaining how they in June 2000 they installed "charcoal-gray egg-crate-pattern polyurethane foam" on the walls and ceiling of the West Warwick club to deaden sound. When the band Great White set off indoor fireworks during a performance on Feb. 20, 2003, that foam ignited.
"Do you acknowledge doing those acts?" Darigan asked.
Jeffrey Derderian closed his eyes.
"Yes, your honor," he said.
Darigan reread the summary of charges and asked Michael Derderian if he too accepted the charges.
"I do your honor," he said.
Darigan sentenced Michael Derderian to four years in prison and spared Jeffrey Derderian jail time with a suspended sentence and 500 hours of community service. Families have expressed outrage at the plea bargain, which was negotiated behind closed doors.
Both brothers took the stand and read brief statements, apologizing for the pain they said they caused.
"There are many days I wish I didn't make it out of that building," said Jeffrey Derderian, weeping as he addressed the families. "I'm sorry I did make it out. I know many of you would have liked it if I died too."
More composed than his brother, Michael Derderian said that they both wished they never used the soundproofing foam.
"I also want to say I am sorry that we did not ask more questions about the deadly and toxic foam that we hung on the walls of our business," he said.
The pleas came after an intense day at the Kent County Court where more than two dozen people gave searing victim impact statements and sparred with the judge.
William Ferland, the lead prosecutor in the Station fire case, told the judge that the state Attorney General’s office “respectfully objected” to the sentences and urged the judge to impose prison time for both brothers.
Before Darigan hand down the sentences, he reiterated why he pushed for a plea bargain and wanted to avoid a trial. He said that the photographs, video tapes and testimony that would have been shown at a trial would have been too traumatic for the public. Darigan mentioned a woman who gave a victim impact statement today who shuddered at an autopsy report for her father that noted that his brain had been weighed.
"That is nothing to the scale of the graphic and very difficult information that this trial would have achieved," he said.
(AP Photo/Bob Breidenbach, Pool)
Sheriff's deputies prepare to place handcuffs on Michael Derderian.
(AP Photo/Bob Breidenbach, Pool)
Jessica Garvey (left) and Kristen Garvey (right) silence their mother Patricia Belanger (center) after she completed her victim impact statement today in Kent County Superior Court. Belanger lost her daughter Dina DeMaio in The Station nightclub fire.
