Icon: enlarge
Burned out warehouse after the fire:
Photo: VIRGINIE GOUBIER / AFP
More than four years after a fire disaster that left 36 dead at a techno party in Oakland, California, the operator of the venue has been sentenced to twelve years in prison.
This was announced by the California judiciary.
Derick A. will probably not have to go to prison, as reported by the broadcaster NPR, among other things: He will be credited for the time he was already imprisoned, and the duration of the prison sentence was reduced for good conduct.
The 50-year-old will spend the remaining 18 months of the sentence in house arrest with an ankle cuff.
The devastating fire broke out in December 2016 during a techno party in a former warehouse that Derick A. had converted into a place for artists, exhibitions and concerts.
In the building known as the “ghost ship” there were neither smoke detectors nor a sprinkler system.
"I'm sick with shame."
Derick A.
Most of the victims were between 20 and 30 years old.
The investigators were never able to clarify the exact cause of the fire due to the intensity of the fire and the extent of the destruction.
In September 2019, a trial against Derick A. and his artistic director ended without convictions: The artistic director was acquitted, with Derick A. the jury could not agree on a conviction.
Last January, A. then made an admission of guilt, thus avoiding a new trial.
He pleaded guilty to negligent homicide in 36 cases.
"I'm sick with shame," he said now.
"I am so sorry."
Icon: The mirror
mxw / AFP