On Wednesday, Superior Court Associate Justice Francis J. Darigan Jr. sentenced Daniel M. Biechele to 15 years, with four years to serve and 11 years suspended, for his role in The Station nightclub fire that killed 100 people in 2003. The judge ordered Biechele to serve an additional three years of probation.
Biechele had pleaded guilty on Feb. 7 to 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the deaths from the nightclub fire.
The three-hour sentencing hearing took place in Superior Court in Providence in a courtroom that was packed with relatives of the deceased victims. Darigan’s sentence followed hour-long presentations by Assistant Attorney General Randall White, who argued for 10 years of imprisonment, and by defense counsel Thomas Briody, who argued for a sentence of community service.
Biechele made a tearful, emotional statement expressing his remorse shortly before Darigan handed down his sentence. The judge said he had found that Biechele had accepted personal responsibility for his actions and that he had “shown genuine and heartfelt remorse for his role in this crime.”
“Mr. Biechele, the greatest sentence that can be imposed upon you has been imposed upon you by yourself, that is, having to live a lifetime knowing that your actions were a proximate cause of the deaths of 100 people,” Darigan said.
The sentencing followed two days of victim impact statements before the judge.
“Over the last two days, I have heard the virtual voice of Rhode Island lamenting the loss of 100 of its very talented, hard-working, and yes, fun-loving young men and women,” he said.
The judge noted that no sentence “could possibly reflect the value of the lives lost or in any way bring back the wonderful, unique people into the lives of those who love them – or to extinguish the pain that all experience on a daily basis.”
Biechele was taken into custody by Rhode Island sheriffs and was to be transported to the Adult Correctional Institutions to begin serving his sentence.
