By Staff
Michael Derderian received just four years behind bars and his brother, Jeffrey, got no prison time at all despite pleading no contest to 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter in a Feb. 21, 2003, nightclub fire which additionally injured more than 200 people.
The fire, sparked by a rock group's pyrotechnics, engulfed The Station in Warwick, R.I., because the Derderian brothers installed flammable foam on the walls to muffle noise.
Outraged relatives teed off on the judge Friday.
Typical of the furious comments was Jay McLaughlin, a relative of two of the 100 victims, who fumed, "Lady Justice in Rhode Island is blind, but she's deaf," to courtroom applause.
Judge Francis Darigan accepted plea bargains to avoid a heart-wrenching trial – which families felt denied them learning more about how and why their loved ones were incinerated.
The judge refused to reconsider, saying the plea bargains would spare the victims and all of Rhode Island from having to "relive the moments of this tragedy," and that it would "avoid an extremely lengthy, costly and heartrending trial whose outcome was uncertain.
"I understand how you feel about this case. My greatest regret, however, most sincere regret, is that this criminal justice system cannot give you the relief you seek," the judge said.
Needless to say, prosecutors objected to these lenient sentences and urged prison time for both defendants.