Band Manager to Plead Guilty in Rhode Island Nightclub Tragedy

The band manager whose pyrotechnic display set off the worst fire in Rhode Island history agreed Tuesday to plead guilty to 100 of the 200 manslaughter counts filed against him, a judge in Providence said.

Dan Biechele, who was manager of the heavy metal group Great White when fire leveled the Station nightclub on Feb. 20, 2003, will serve no more than 10 years in prison in exchange for his plea, Superior Court Judge Francis J. Darigan Jr. said at a special hearing Tuesday.

The blaze at the popular club in West Warwick, 10 miles south of Providence, claimed 100 lives. More than 200 people were injured, many enough to require long-term rehabilitation.

Thomas Briody, Biechele’s lawyer, said in an interview Tuesday that he would not discuss negotiations leading up to the plea deal.

“What I will say is this,” Briody said. “Dan never intended to harm anyone on Feb. 20, 2003. He’s made a decision that he is going to accept responsibility for his conduct that evening. He deeply regrets the harm that has been caused to the victims in this case. And he hopes that his decision here is going to give some solace to the victims.”

Local fire officials said more than 440 fans of Great White packed into the small wood structure -- well over the club’s capacity -- on the night of the fire. Biechele’s firework display was a standard part of the band’s opening act.

That night, the pyrotechnics ignited a foam wall and flames jumped almost instantly to the ceiling. The fire quickly spread, engulfing the club in thick smoke that made it impossible for many victims to escape. The club was destroyed in minutes.

The tragedy was the fourth-deadliest nightclub fire in U.S. history.

Biechele, whose criminal trial in the Station case had been scheduled for May 1, was not in the courtroom Tuesday as Darigan announced the agreement. The judge said the plea would be formally entered and accepted Feb. 7. Biechele previously had pleaded not guilty.

“It is important to understand that in engaging in a plea agreement, both the state and the defendant have given up substantial rights in forgoing the trial of this case,” Darigan said.

Darigan said sentencing would not occur when Biechele entered his official plea, to give victims and their families time to provide sentencing statements.

Rhode Island Atty. Gen. Patrick C. Lynch issued a statement Tuesday saying his office had been “fully prepared to prosecute Mr. Biechele to the fullest extent of the law.”

Club owners Jeffrey A. and Michael A. Derderian were each charged in December 2003 with 200 counts of involuntary manslaughter -- using two separate legal bases for each of the 100 fatalities.

The three defendants were charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter for each of the 100 people killed. One count per death alleged criminal negligence, the other accused the defendants of committing underlying offenses that led to the deaths.

Biechele has said through his lawyer that he had permission to light the pyrotechnics during the concert, but the Derderians have disputed that claim.

No date has been set for the Derderians’ trial, a spokeswoman for Atty. Gen. Lynch said Tuesday.

The Derderian brothers also have pleaded not guilty to charges of installing the soundproofing foam in violation of state fire regulations. The Derderians, who have filed for bankruptcy protection, face more than $1 million in workers’ compensation penalties.

Scores of civil lawsuits also are pending against the nightclub owners. Legal action against the makers of the insulation foam and other manufacturers also is ongoing.

John Hussey, whose wife, Laurie, was badly injured in the inferno, said Tuesday that Biechele’s plea was a wise move.

“There are a lot of people out there being headhunters, demanding that these guys be put away for life,” Hussey said. “You know what? It’s not going to do any good.

“It was an accident,” Hussey said. “Nobody intended for this to happen. I understand that people got killed and a lot of people got hurt -- like my wife.

“But these people have to live with it for the rest of their lives. They know what happened and what their part in it was. Putting them in jail for 25 or 30 years isn’t going to do a darn thing.”

The president of the Rhode Island Bar Assn., Philip M. Weinstein, said Tuesday that he could understand why some of the victims might not be so understanding.

“People who have lost loved ones, I would suspect that many of them are so upset and angry that they might well say, ‘Ten years -- this is nothing,’ ” he said.

But Weinstein, a former prosecutor, said the case was unusual because it was strictly about criminal negligence, “far from an intentional act.”

He said the possibility that Biechele might face 10 years in prison “can be viewed as a pretty long sentence, under these circumstances, and given the background of the matter. It’s just a terrible set of circumstances that led to this tragedy.”

Ty Longley, Great White’s guitarist, was among those killed in the fire.