The main leaseholder of an Oakland warehouse that caught fire during a party in 2016, killing 36 people, was sentenced Monday to 12 years in prison but may spend the remainder of his term at home as part of a plea deal with prosecutors.
Derick Almena, 50, will serve one-and-a-half years at home with a GPS ankle monitor due to credit for time already spent behind bars while awaiting trial and good behavior. He will also be required to complete three years of post-custody supervised release. The defendant was already on house arrest after being released from jail last year due COVID-19 concerns.
Almena pleaded guilty in January to all 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter in exchange for the 12-year split prison sentence, which marks the end to a case that was first derailed by a hung jury and then the coronavirus pandemic. Relatives of those who died in the blaze had urged the judge to refuse the plea deal and have another trial instead.