Ghost Ship warehouse master tenant Derick Almena pleaded guilty Friday to 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter, putting an end to a long and gut-wrenching ordeal.
The plea deal will allow him to avoid a second trial after a jury failed to reach a verdict on his guilt in 2019.
Almena illegally converted an industrial warehouse into an artist’s collective, residence and event space, which he then rented out.
Prosecutors say the building was a major fire-trap, crammed with flammable materials and crisscrossed with extension cords. The building also had no smoke detectors or sprinklers.
During a concert at the warehouse in 2016 a fire broke out and killed 36 people, many of whom were trapped inside the labyrinthine building with no clear way out.
Max Harris, who prosecutors said was second in command at the building, was acquitted during the earlier trial.
Under the deal Almena received a sentence of 12 years in prison, but three of those may be suspended in exchange for mandatory electronic supervision and some restitution will have to be paid. Almena will also get some credit for the three years he has already served in county jail while awaiting trial.
Friends and family of the victims were not able to be present in the courtroom because of the pandemic.
But one Oakland artist outside the courthouse who declined to be named told KCBS Radio that she felt some justice had been served.
“Although it doesn’t go all the way in punishing him in his criminal negligence that caused these people to lose their lives and their families to lose their family members, it is something at least, to show that the law cares about these people.”
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