2 men plead no contest in deadly warehouse fire
OAKLAND, Calif. — Two defendants each pleaded no contest Tuesday to 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter in a fire at an illegally converted California warehouse that occurred during an unpermitted concert.
Under the terms of the plea agreement Tuesday, Derick Almena could be sentenced to nine years in prison and Max Harris could receive a six-year sentence. A judge will sentence them at a later date.
Authorities say Almena, 48, rented the warehouse and illegally converted it into an entertainment venue and residences before the December 2016 blaze.
Harris, 28, helped Almena collect rent and schedule concerts.
Both men are only expected to serve half their sentences. They have been in jail for a year.
Almena’s attorney Tony Serra said Almena agreed to the plea bargain to alleviate “the pain and suffering of all parties.”
Prosecutors say the men turned the cluttered building into a “death trap” with few exits, rickety stairs and dark and dangerous passageways. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives investigators said they could not determine the cause of the blaze.
Each man was charged with one count of involuntary manslaughter for each person who died in the fire that quickly destroyed the structure.
A typical manslaughter case often results in shorter sentences, Stanford University law professor Robert Weisberg said, citing a three-year sentence given to a transit officer in the region who mistook his gun for a stun gun and fatally shot a passenger.
“On the other hand, there were 36 victims,” Weisberg said about the warehouse fire. “This was a manslaughter case that felt like a murder case.”
Almena lived in the warehouse with his wife and three children. The family was staying in a nearby hotel on the night of the fire. Harris also lived in the warehouse and escaped the fire unharmed.
Serra has said a plea deal would spare the victims’ families from testifying at a trial where photos of burned bodies and other emotionally fraught evidence would be shown.