M. Derderian

On Thursday, two years and nine months after Michael Derderian pleaded no contest to 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter, one for each person who died in the Station nightclub fire, he walked out of the Adult Correctional Institutions a free man.

Derderian had been scheduled for release in October, but good behavior and participation in certain programs while incarcerated shaved time off of his sentence.

He and his brother, Jeffery, co-owned The Station, in West Warwick, which burned in February 2003. Michael Derderian was sentenced to four years in the ACI. Jeffrey Derderian, who also pleaded no contest, was ordered to perform 500 hours’ community service. Daniel M. Biechele, 30, the rock band tour manager who triggered the fireworks that started the fire, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to four years in prison.

No one came to the door when a reporter went to Michael Derderian’s home, in Narragansett, Thursday evening. Shortly after his release from the ACI’s medium-security section, he posted a statement on the Web site for the Station Education Fund, an organization the brothers set up to assist the children of Station Fire victims.

“Although my incarceration has ended, remembering the loss of life and pain from family members and survivors is something that will never leave me,” the statement begins. “The magnitude of what happened cannot be measured in words and while my prison time was certainly difficult, I have always known there are others who have endured so much more on a daily basis.”

Derderian, released on probation, said he plans to make contributions to the fund and volunteer with fire prevention and education efforts “so this kind of tragedy can never happen again anywhere.” He also said he will share his experiences in jail “in the hopes that it may deter people from making the wrong choices.”

He is subject to the same conditions required of anyone on probation, for example, not associating with felons, said Corrections Department spokeswoman Tracey E. Zeckhausen.

tbuford@projo.com