GREAT WHITE Fire Update - Nightclub Owner To Be Released In October 2009
January 16, 2008, 16 years ago
According to Eric Tucker from the Associated Press, the co-owner of a nightclub where a 2003 fire killed 100 people was granted an early release from prison by the state parole board Wednesday (January 16th), but will not be freed until October 2009 after serving more than three years of his four-year sentence.
Michael Derderian, 46, went to prison in September 2006 for the fire at The Station nightclub in West Warwick that was sparked by pyrotechnics for the 1980s rock band GREAT WHITE.
He became eligible for parole this month after completing one-third of his sentence, but faced an uphill battle to get released after discipline problems in prison and pleas to keep him behind bars.
Derderian appeared before the parole board Wednesday, a week after victims' relatives asked the board to force him to serve his entire sentence, saying he ran a dangerous business and failed to show enough remorse for his role in the disaster.
Parole board Chairwoman Lisa Holley said in a written statement that the board decided to release Derderian next year and not to set another parole hearing because of the "enormity of the loss and trauma suffered by many." All but one member voted to grant parole.
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