The brothers who owned The Station nightclub, where a fast- moving fire on Feb. 20, 2003, killed 100 people, have agreed to plead no contest to involuntary manslaughter charges, effectively ending the criminal prosecution against them.

In exchange for their pleas, Superior Court Judge Francis J. Darigan Jr. has agreed to a sentence that calls for no jail time for one of the brothers, Jeffrey A. Derderian. But the attorney general tells the victims' families that he opposes the deal "and I will continue to strongly voice my objection.''

Michael A. Derderian, 45, is to serve four years in prison followed by three years of probation. He also will have an 11-year suspended sentence, which he could have to serve if he gets into trouble while on probation.

That sentence is identical to the one Darigan imposed in May on Daniel M. Biechele, the tour manager for rock band Great White who set off fireworks that started the fire and who pleaded guilty in February.

Jeffrey Derderian, 39, will receive a 10-year suspended sentence, three years probation and 500 hours of community service.

Journal file photo / Mary Murphy

Michael Derderian and Jeff Derderian, owners of The Station nightclub in West Warwick, in Kent County Superior Court during their arraignments in December 2003.

In a letter to the families of victims dated yesterday, Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch blasted the sentences for the Derderians.

"I want each of you to understand that as attorney general, I have not agreed to this disposition, and I will continue to strongly voice my objection," the letter says. "Despite their desire to admit to the charges against them, I was unwilling to recommend or agree to the sentences that I have been advised the court will impose. Most significantly, I strongly disagree with the court's intention to sentence Jeffrey Derderian to less than jail."

Kathleen M. Hagerty, who represents Michael Derderian, last night told The Providence Journal that it was Lynch's office that proposed the sentences to which Darigan agreed.

She said lead prosecutor William Ferland offered the sentences Aug. 10 and again in a handwritten note on Sept. 7. Ferland told Darigan that Lynch had authorized the offer, according to Hagerty.

But, in a Sept. 12 meeting -- the day after the Derderians agreed to the proposed deal -- prosecutors told the judge, with the defense lawyers present, that Lynch wanted to "pull it off the table," according to Hagerty.

"Judge Darigan is doing the honorable thing," Hagerty said. "He is honoring his [Lynch's] offer."

A spokesman for Lynch last night denied Hagerty's account.

"If there was ever a signal given that terms of four to serve and less than jail were OK, the final decision always rested with the attorney general. That's his decision and nobody else's decision," said spokesman Michael J. Healey. "He categorically said to our prosecutors that he would not settle for less than jail on Jeffrey Derderian, and he categorically said he wanted Michael Derderian to serve more time than Biechele."

Darigan did not return a call seeking comment last night, but a courts spokesman released a statement. "There is a plan for the dignified release of information that is sensitive to the families of the victims of the tragic fire at The Station nightclub," spokesman Craig N. Berke said. "The premature release of information about this matter is unfortunate and will be answered." The statement said the court will have a further response around noon today.

Several survivors of the fire and the brother of a man who died in the fire expressed relief last night that the criminal cases are coming to an end, if not satisfaction with the outcome.

"I lost people in that fire. I lost friends in that fire. It's not going to bring them back," said Cara Ann Del Sesto, who, with her twin sister, Lisa Ann Del Sesto, was a regular at the nightclub. "People are going to be [upset]. They wanted to see them hung from the nearest tree -- myself included." But she added, "I'm just happy it's over. It's over. I don't have to relive it anymore."

"I can finally put a period at the end of that chapter of my life. It's over. It's officially over," said Lisa Ann Del Sesto. "We can all breathe again and live again." She added that Jeffrey Derderian should be required to serve his community service working with burn victims. "I just hope he spends the 500 hours community service helping the people whose lives he changed."

Tammy M. Passa, who, with two friends, escaped the burning building, said she thought both brothers should get the same sentence as Biechele. But, more importantly, "all I'm looking for is for them to admit they did something wrong."

"I'm a little relieved, a little sad," said Jody F. King, brother of Tracy F. King, a Station bouncer who perished. "The truth isn't going to come out now. If we had gone to trial, the truth would have come out, but I'm relieved the families don't have to go through this. I'm relieved I don't have to sit there in court everyday."

In Lynch's letter to the victims' families, he said he is reviewing "materials and evidence" in the case to determine what can be made public "in an attempt to help answer some of your questions."

The Derderians and Biechele had each been charged with 200 counts of involuntary manslaughter. They were charged with two counts -- under separate legal theories -- for each of the 100 people who died.

One theory, called misdemeanor manslaughter, was that they committed a crime that was not a felony and that led to the deaths. For the Derderians, the state charged they had violated the fire code by putting up flammable soundproofing foam. They will enter their no contest pleas to the 100 counts of misdemeanor manslaughter. Despite the name, misdemeanor manslaughter is a felony.

The other theory, called criminal negligence, was that they had acted without regard for the safety of the club occupants, leading to the deaths. In exchange for their pleas, prosecutors will drop the 100 criminal negligence charges.

All three defendants were to be tried separately. Jury selection in Michael Derderian's trial began Sept. 5. The jury had not been seated and no testimony had been heard. Jeffrey Derderian's trial was to follow.

The Derderians are now scheduled to return to Kent County Superior Court on Sept. 29 to change their pleas to no-contest, which is an admission of guilt, but not the same as a guilty plea. The Derderians will be admitting that they are not contesting the state's charges in entering their pleas.

Hagerty said that prosecutors had been trying to convince the Derderians to resolve the case short of trial for more than a year, but that, up until last week, the brothers had balked. She said that Lynch's office was so eager for a deal to be cut that Ferland approached Michael Derderian a few weeks ago, in Hagerty's presence, to convince him that "it was the right thing to do."

The brothers had been insisting on a trial, Hagerty said, because "they felt a trial was the only way everyone would understand what happened that night at The Station and what the truth really was."

But, on Sept. 11, they changed their minds.

Hagerty said the main reason was to spare the fire victims and their families the trauma of having to relive the night that 100 people died in their West Warwick nightclub.

In recent weeks, after prosecutors and defense lawyers sent subpoenas to fire survivors to testify at Michael Derderian's trial, "we started hearing stories that some of them were checking themselves into Butler [a psychiatric facility in Providence] and other treatment centers because they were so traumatized."

Hagerty said that prosecutors were insistent in fashioning their plea deal that one of the brothers serve time in prison. Michael Derderian had more of a hand in running the nightclub than Jeffrey, who had a full-time job as a television reporter. But Michael was in Florida the night of the fire while Jeffrey was at the nightclub.

In the end, Hagerty said, Michael Derderian made the decision that he would be the one to go to prison because his brother is the father of two young children, and he wanted to do something good for his brother.

"These two people are tortured by the harm [the fire] caused," she said. She called the plea deal a compromise for both sides since the case posed "problems for both sides. Nobody knows what criminal negligence means to a jury. Only a jury can tell you that."

If there was a trial, Hagerty last night said that the defense thought it had a good case to present. "We hung the foam in the nightclub, but there are so many extenuating circumstances that we would have brought out."

The foam the brothers ordered for the club was "sound foam," she said, "which in any place of public assembly must be fire-retardant. But instead of getting the sound foam they'd ordered, they got packing foam and were never told that they weren't getting the sound foam they had ordered.

"Foam comes with a material data warning safety sheet that was never given to the Derderians by the salesman from American Foam and we would have presented testimony from employees of American Foam who would have told the jury that they were under orders from the owner not to supply that sheet unless the buyer specifically asked for it. But the manufacturer of the foam had sent a letter to the distributors encouraging them to give the safety sheet to the end-user."

Hagerty also said that the defense would have presented evidence that Denis Larocque, the West Warwick fire inspector, had inspected The Station six times after the foam was installed there, and that while it was all over the walls of the club, he never once cited the Derderians for having flammable soundproofing in their club.

Larocque "cited the club for a door that opened the wrong way and it was covered with this foam, and for a panic bar that was broken on a door behind that door. The only way to see through the panic bar is to stick your finger through the foam and open it," Hagerty said.

Although he said he was unhappy with the sentences, Lynch, in his letter, celebrated a conclusion that means guilty findings against all three defendants.

"Despite months of denials of responsibility on behalf of those who owned the club and of the band's tour manager, each has now admitted that they are, in fact, criminally responsible for the deaths of one hundred persons."

With staff reports by Talia Buford

tbreton@projo.com / (401) 277-7362

pparker@projo.com / (401) 277-7360