The two men who operated the "Ghost Ship" warehouse in Oakland, Calif., pleaded no contest to involuntary manslaughter charges Tuesday after prosecutors accused them of creating a "fire trap" that left 36 people dead in one of the deadliest blazes in California history.
Derick Ion Almena, 47, the property manager who converted the warehouse into an artists' residence and underground concert venue, and Max Harris, the self-described "creative director" who ran a concert the night of the fatal 2016 blaze, entered into the plea agreement in an Oakland courtroom Tuesday afternoon, officials said.
Almena was sentenced to 12 years in prison, while Harris was sentenced to 10 years, according to Alameda County Assistant District Attorney Teresa Drenick. Each was given a split sentence: Almena will serve nine years in custody and the final three under supervised release, Drenick said. Harris will spend six years in custody and then four years on supervised release, she said.
Almena and Harris were charged in June 2017, six months after a fire erupted during an electronic dance concert at the Ghost Ship. The property had been illegally converted into a residence for members of the city's art community, according to prosecutors, who accused the men of knowingly creating "a fire trap, with inadequate means of escape."
The warehouse fire broke out during a Dec. 2, 2106, concert, trapping scores of attendees inside. All of the victims, ages 17 to 61, died of smoke inhalation, according to coroner's reports.
Almena and Harris had allowed as many as 25 people to live in the building but failed to provide fire suppression equipment, according to court records. In a probable cause statement filed last year, prosecutors said Almena charged from $300 to $1,400 rent for space in the ramshackle housing, court documents show.
Prosecutors have said the structure was filled from "floor to ceiling" with flammable materials.
On the night of the fire, Harris rented the warehouse's second floor to a concert promoter, then blocked one of the building's exits, leaving victims only one way to run when the fire erupted. Those trying to flee had to navigate a narrow, wooden staircase that some witnesses described as a "gang plank" as they ran from the flames, according to court records.
Almena had advertised the building on Craigslist as a "hybrid museum, sunken pirate ship, shingled funhouse, and guerrilla gallery." He lived in the Ghost Ship with his girlfriend, Micah Allison, and their three children.
The building was owned by Chor N. Ng, who has become the target of a civil lawsuit brought by the victims' families. She was never charged criminally.
