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PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) ― After relatives of the 100 people killed by a fire at his nightclub spent hours Friday angrily denouncing a plea deal that spares him prison time, Jeffrey Derderian choked back tears as he described being haunted by horrific memories of the blaze.

"There are many days that I wish I didn't make it out of that building, because if I didn't maybe some of these families would feel better," Derderian said, prompting his brother and co-defendant, Michael, to sob at the defense table where he was seated.

The club owners pleaded no contest Friday to 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter for the Feb. 20, 2003, fire at The Station, which began when pyrotechnics for the rock band Great White ignited flammable soundproofing foam the brothers had installed on the walls.

"I hear the screams, the broken glass, the terror from that night in my head," said Jeffrey Derderian, a former television reporter who was at the club that night with a TV cameraman for a news report on safety in public places.

Michael Derderian, making his first public remarks since the fire, was more stoic than his brother but began to cry as a family friend described losing his brother, who was a bouncer at the club. Michael Derderian also apologized and said he never intended for the fire to happen.

"We will do everything we can so that every question can be answered—so that all the facts, not just some of them come out," he said.

A judge gave Michael Derderian, 45, four years in prison and spared Jeff Derderian, 39, jail time under plea agreements that infuriated victims' families, who complained the sentences were overly lenient. Relatives also fear that without a trial there will never be a public examination of what led to the blaze.

"Lady Justice in Rhode Island is blind, but she's also deaf," testified Jay McLaughlin, a relative of victims Sandy and Michael Hoogasian. Other family members applauded as he returned to his seat.

Judge Francis Darigan, though, refused to reconsider the plea deals, saying they would spare the victims and all of Rhode Island from having to "relive the moments of this tragedy" through graphic images and descriptions, and that it would "avoid an extremely lengthy, costly and heartrending trial whose outcome was uncertain."

"I understand how you feel about this case," the judge told family members. "My greatest regret, however, most sincere regret, is that this criminal justice system cannot give you the relief you seek."

Prosecutors said they objected to the sentences and urged prison time for both men. Defense lawyer Kathleen Hagerty has said prosecutors offered the terms during negotiations, but Darigan took responsibility for the deal Friday.

Gov. Don Carcieri also criticized the sentences. "Nobody who witnessed today's emotional testimony could believe that the punishment fit the crime," he said in a statement.

The sentencing began in memorial fashion, with the lights dimmed and a screen flashing the photographs of each of the 100 people who died, while a clerk read their names out loud. Then, one by one, more than two dozen relatives of those who died took the stand to recount how their lives have changed since the tragedy.
The judge warned the victims not to go beyond the emotional toll and offer their opinions about the legal process or the plea bargain, saying "this is not a public hearing, it's not a rally." But many still tried to persuade him not to accept the deal.

"I know you can do better, and I'm asking you to," said Susan Howorth-Pritchard, whose brother died in the fire. "It's the right thing to do."

Claire Bruyere said her daughter Bonnie Hamelin was now in a place where "there is no corruption or negligence."

"She was let down by the system, state and even me. I can't reassure her that someone was held responsible for her death," Bruyere said. She, too, was applauded.

Both defendants also received three years' probation. In addition, Jeffrey Derderian was sentenced to 500 hours of community service.

Michael Derderian received the harsher sentence because he bought the foam.

The fire—the fourth-deadliest nightclub fire in U.S. history—broke out during a concert by the heavy-metal rock band Great White, quickly consuming the one-story wooden building 13 miles south of Providence. More than 200 people were injured, and many of those killed became trapped and died at the doorways, overcome by fumes and smoke.

The brothers said Friday they did not know the foam was flammable.

"If I had known now what that foam was, we definitely would have done things differently," Michael Derderian said. "We would have never ever put our patrons, our employees, our families and our friends at risk."

The Derderians' lawyer has said Great White did not have permission to set off the pyrotechnics, something the band denies.

The fire prompted an overhaul of Rhode Island's fire codes, a wave of lawsuits and criminal charges against the Derderians and former Great White tour manager Daniel Biechele.

Biechele was sentenced in May to four years in prison after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter for setting off the pyrotechnics.

The Derderians pleaded no contest to involuntary manslaughter for installing flammable foam that violated the fire code.

A federal lawsuit filed by nearly 300 people who were injured or lost loved ones is pending.

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