A plea deal is reached in fatal club fire

PROVIDENCE -- A former rock band tour manager will plead guilty to 100 charges of involuntary manslaughter in a deal with prosecutors guaranteeing him no more than 10 years in prison for igniting the pyrotechnic display that started the 2003 Station nightclub fire in which 100 people died, the trial judge announced yesterday.

Daniel Biechele will plead guilty to one misdemeanor charge of involuntary manslaughter for each death, said Providence County Superior Court Associate Justice Francis J. Darigan Jr. One count of involuntary manslaughter due to criminal negligence for each death will be dismissed, he said. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, though under Rhode Island law Biechele could only have been sentenced on 100 counts if convicted of all the charges.

Biechele, in turn, could become a key witness in the case against brothers Jeffrey and Michael Derderian, who owned the West Warwick, R.I., nightclub, according to family members of fire victims who said they were briefed by prosecutors. The brothers also face the same 200 charges.

''This gives prosecutors the opportunity to subpoena" Biechele, said Bob Johnson of Easton, Pa., whose 32-year-old son, Derek, died in the fire. ''He can't plead the Fifth [Amendment]. He's got to answer questions."

Nonetheless, the deal outraged some families of victims of the fire, which took the lives of 40 people from Massachusetts.

''To me it's a mere slap on the wrist," said Eileen DiBonaventura of North Dighton, whose 18-year-old son, Albert, perished in the fire.

''The punishment does not fit the crime," she said. ''It's just overwhelming to think that this man, by his hand, 100 people died, and his sentencing cannot exceed 10 years."

Charles A. Sweet of Pembroke, whose 28-year-old son, Shawn, died in the fire, said Biechele's maximum sentence is ''kind of lenient."

''My wife and I have been devastated by his loss," Sweet said. ''My son does not belong in a graveyard. He had his whole life ahead of him."

Biechele's plea, formally scheduled for Tuesday, would be the first criminal conviction stemming from the horrific blaze, which quickly consumed the tiny club and those who failed to escape in the stampede for the exits.

''He made a decision today to accept responsibility for his role in those events," said Biechele's lawyer, Tom Briody of Providence. ''He deeply regrets the actions of that evening and the harm that they caused."

Survivors of the fire and families of the deceased, as well as prosecutors and Biechele's defense lawyers, will be able to make arguments on the length of Biechele's sentence. But Darigan said 10 years would be the maximum.

''Both sides have made tremendous efforts to structure a resolution that meets the ends of justice and will bring some conclusion to the case," Darigan said during a brief court hearing yesterday that Biechele did not attend.

Biechele, 29, who lives in Florida and has been free on bail, was the tour manager for Great White, a once-popular hard rock band based in Los Angeles. The blaze started seconds after the band started their first song on the night of Feb. 20, 2003. Biechele set off stage fireworks that ignited highly flammable foam that had been placed around the stage as soundproofing.

The one-story nightclub, built in the 1940s, was quickly engulfed in flames, with terrified patrons trying to get out. Within 90 seconds, the air temperature reached 1,800 degrees, according to a federal report. Smoke and flames raced from one end of the club to the other, killing 100 and injuring 200 others.

Nearly 10 months after the fire, a grand jury indicted Biechele and the Derderian brothers on 200 criminal counts each. Many victims and their families said state fire and regulatory officials, as well as band members, were also at fault.

Biechele was charged with setting off the fireworks. The Derderians -- who became the public face of the case after Jeffrey Derderian held a tearful press conference -- were charged with installing the flammable soundproofing in violation of Rhode Island fire codes. They have pleaded not guilty.

''While this office was fully prepared and ready to go to trial and to prosecute Mr. Biechele to the fullest extent of the law, the defendant has indicated he is willing to accept responsibility for his role," said Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch of Rhode Island, whose office is prosecuting all three criminal cases.

Lynch's statement did not discuss the implications of Biechele's deal for the Derderians. But victims' relatives said that prosecutors from his office have told them that Biechele could testify against the brothers and that resolving the Biechele case would allow them to better focus on prosecuting the Derderians.

J. Richard Ratcliffe, a former state prosecutor in Rhode Island and now a Providence-based defense lawyer, said Biechele's value to prosecutors would be to give details linking the Derderians to the fire. ''Obviously, a criminal defendant does not want additional testimony to connect him to the crime," said Ratcliffe. ''I would assume that his testimony would be detrimental to the Derderians' case."

Lawyers for the Derderians did not return calls seeking comment.

Lynch acknowledged yesterday that many victims and their families would not be satisfied with the Biechele deal. ''We know there is no measure of justice capable of addressing the depth of devastation, pain, and heartache caused by a tragedy of the magnitude of the Station fire," he said in his statement.

Indeed, many victims' families were livid at yesterday's turn of events. ''This is absolutely wrong," Diane Mattera of Warwick, R.I., who lost her 29-year-old daughter, Tammy, said in an interview with the Associated Press. ''For the 100 victims, and for all the ones that are burnt and scarred and everything else, they deserve much more than this."

But Donald Latulippe, whose 46-year-old son, Dale, died in the fire, said he was simply exhausted by all the tragedy surrounding the fire. Though prosecutors told victims' families in advance about yesterday's court hearing, the 75-year-old Randolph man decided to skip it. ''It's over," said Latulippe. ''I don't want to see any more suffering."

Kathleen Burge can be reached at kburge@globe.com; Raja Mishra at rmishra@globe.com.