Brothers Sentenced in Nightclub Fire

09/29/2006 10:30 PM, E! Online


The owners of the Station nightclub in Rhode Island are going to pay, but according to some, the punishment's not dear enough.

Michael Derderian was sentenced Friday to four years in minimum-security prison and immediately taken into custody, while his brother Jeffrey was given a suspended 10-year sentence. The sentences were handed down after the pair pleaded no contest to 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter stemming from the 2003 fire that killed 100 people and injured more than 200 when the pyrotechnics went awry during a Great White concert at their West Warwick club.

The Derderians had installed highly flammable foam soundproofing insulation inside the venue in violation of the state's fire code.

Their punishment was doled out in a packed Kent County courtroom, full of relatives and friends of the dead and injured concertgoers who feel that the Derderian siblings are getting a slap on the wrist. A number of people were allowed to voice their frustration in court before the sentences were handed down.

"I don't need to tell you how distraught and disgusted I was when I learned you decided the man who literally lit the fuse that night would serve no more than four years," said Diane Mattera, whose daughter Tammy Mattera-Housa was killed in the fire, referring to Great White manager Daniel Biechele, who pleaded guilty in May. "The only thought that kept me gong was the promise that when September came, things would be different.

"When September came, there would be a trial and there would be no way the brothers would get away with their crimes."

The plea arrangement was made public Sept. 20 when a letter from the Rhode Island Attorney General's Office intended for the victims' families was leaked to the Providence Journal. According to the letter, state Attorney General Patrick Lynch was not particularly satisfied by the deal, noting that just one count of involuntary manslaughter can potentially carry a penalty of 30 years in maximum-security prison.

"This court has always been acutely aware that no resolution--either by trial or plea agreement--would ever satisfy anyone or everyone," Judge Francis Darigan Jr. told the court before the sentencing. To Michael Derderian: "The greatest sentence that can be imposed on you has been imposed on you by yourself."

Jeffrey Derderian, who was also slapped with 500 hours of community service and three years probation, said in court: "This tragedy has our name on it. I wish I could give you back what you lost, but I know I can't."

No criminal charges were ever brought against Great White, which also lost guitarist Ty Longley in the blaze, but the heavy metal band's guitarist, Mark Kendall, and frontman, Jack Russell, have been named in a federal lawsuit by nearly 300 victims and victims' relatives seeking damages. Bassist Dave Filice and drummer Eric Powers left the group shortly after the fire.

Kendall told the Associated Press recently that he and Russell have penned 15 new songs and are working on a new album and planning a tour--minus pyrotechnics--with part of the proceeds going to the Station Family Fund to benefit survivors and the families of people who died that night.

"I don't think [Russell] wants to talk about the fire," Kendall said. "It's hard on everybody. At some point, you feel you want to stop talking about it."