Great White fire sentences attacked

The two brothers who ran the nightclub where more than 100 died following the Great White indoor fireworks display have been sentenced.

Michael Derderian has been given four years; Jeffrey, his brother and co-owner of the Rhode Island Station club, has been sentenced to a ten year suspended stretch.

The Derderians had installed flammable foam in the body of the club, as soundproofing. The fireworks set the foam alight. The pair cut a deal to avoid a trial, and ensure their sentences were lighter - a deal which has angered some of those who lost friends and relatives in the fire. They'd already been enraged by what they perceived as light sentences for others involved:

"I don't need to tell you how distraught and disgusted I was when I learned you decided the man who literally lit the fuse that night would serve no more than four years," said Diane Mattera, whose daughter Tammy Mattera-Housa was killed in the fire, referring to Great White manager Daniel Biechele, who pleaded guilty in May. "The only thought that kept me gong was the promise that when September came, things would be different.

"When September came, there would be a trial and there would be no way the brothers would get away with their crimes."

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