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Apr 25, 2007 4:45 pm US/Eastern
Derderian Serves Community Service At Burn Group
PROVIDENCE (AP) ―
An owner of a nightclub where a 2003 fire killed 100 people is performing his community service sentence with a fire and rescue company and a national burn survivors' group.
Jeffrey Derderian said in a written statement sent to reporters late Tuesday that he was grateful for the chance to work with burn victims and had completed nearly 70 hours of his 500-hour sentence.
Derderian sent the statement a few hours after Attorney General Patrick Lynch criticized Derderian for what he said was an "inadequate" amount of community service so far. He said Derderian had not shown the proper amount of respect to victims' family members and to the judge who sentenced him.
Derderian was ordered to perform community service when he was sentenced in September on 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter for the Feb. 20, 2003 fire at The Station nightclub. The fire broke out after pyrotechnics for the band Great White ignited flammable foam lining the club's walls.
Derderian's lawyer, Kathleen Hagerty, declined to respond to Lynch's criticism. But she said Derderian was doing his community service by volunteering at a fire and rescue company in West Greenwich and at the Phoenix Society for Burn Survivors, based in Grand Rapids, Mich.
In his statement, Derderian said, "The long process of beginning my community service started many months ago and it was a careful, deliberate process in order to ensure it was meaningful and appropriate. The wishes and concerns of burn survivors were always paramount."
Derderian said he planned to continue his work even after his sentence was completed. Derderian has three years -- the length of his probation -- to complete the community service.
At the Phoenix Society, Derderian, a former television reporter, will do grant research and help organize a communications campaign for a cross-country bike ride to benefit burn victims, according to Hagerty and a statement from the nonprofit.
The Phoenix Society has worked with survivors of The Station nightclub fire, but Derderian will not be in contact with them and his projects are intended to benefit the broader population of burn victims, said executive director Amy Acton.
Hagerty said Derderian initially tried to work with burn victims at Rhode Island Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, but was told there were no opportunities available for him. She said securing the job at the Phoenix Society was a long process that included Derderian flying to the Midwest to meet with the group's director.
Superior Court Judge Francis Darigan on Tuesday ordered the probation department to submit quarterly updates on the status of Derderian's community service.
Craig Berke, a spokesman for the state courts system, said Darigan appreciated that it might have taken a while for Derderian to find a suitable job.
"He accepted that, but now he'd like to see a little more regular accounting for how it's going," Berke said.
Derderian's brother, Michael, and former Great White tour manager Daniel Biechele are each serving four-year prison sentences. The Derderians and Biechele avoided trials through plea deals.
(© 2007 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
