GREAT WHITE Update: Family Members Hope To Vent At Nightclub Fire Sentencing

September 28, 2006

The Associated Press has issued the following report:

At a sentencing hearing last May for the GREAT WHITE tour manager whose pyrotechnics ignited a deadly nightclub fire, Gina Russo spoke of her severe burns and of waking from an 11-week coma to learn the man she planned to marry was among the 100 people killed.

On Friday, when club owners Jeffrey and Michael Derderian are set to plead no contest to involuntary manslaughter charges for the fire, Russo will again speak. Only this time, Russo says, her tone and words will reflect her bitter disappointment.

"They got away with not going through a trial," said Russo, whose fiance, Alfred Crisostomi, 38, died in the Feb. 20, 2003 fire. "They’re going to have to look right at me."

At least 25 relatives of those killed are expected to present victim impact statements before the Derderians enter their pleas. Eight of those killed lived or worked in Connecticut.

Several say their remarks will be colored by the anger they feel at plea agreements that they believe are stunningly lenient and defy justice. But others say giving a statement would be futile since the judge has already decided on sentences.

Read the rest of the article from The Associated Press.

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