Plea Bargain in RI Nightclub Fire

Yesterday a Rhode Island judge accepted a plea agreement in the nightclub fire ignited by a rock band's fireworks in 2003. The two owners of the nightclub, which burned quickly because they had installed flammable foam as a sound buffer, pleaded no contest to 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter.

The one who bought the foam was sentenced to four years in prison; his brother will perform community service but serve no time. Both will have three years' probation. The brothers say that they did not know the foam was flammable and that the band wasn't okayed to set off the pyrotechnics (the band says it was). Victims' families are upset at the light sentences.

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