NEWARK, N.J. -- Nearly seven years after a dormitory blaze killed three Seton Hall University students, two former college roommates on Wednesday admitted setting the fire in a plea deal that dropped murder charges and will send them to prison for no more than five years.
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Joseph T. LePore and Sean Ryan each faced charges including three murder counts, which each carried a minimum of 30 years in prison.
1010 WINS Audio: Prosecutor Reacts to Plea Deals
"I did not intend to harm anyone. It was a prank that got out of hand,'' the two 26-year-olds said in matching statements to Superior Court Judge Harold T. Fullilove on the day their trial was set to begin.
Faced with a case built on circumstantial evidence, LePore and Ryan for years through their lawyers had denied starting the Jan. 19, 2000, fire.
But on Wednesday the men admitted they ignited a banner in a third-floor lounge of Boland Hall, which set a couch ablaze at the Roman Catholic school in South Orange. LePore and Ryan were among students who earlier celebrated a victory over basketball rival St. John's University.
AP Video: Plea Deal Reached
Dozens were injured while escaping the dorm, several with serious burns, and three students were overcome by the smoke and died: 18-year-old freshmen Frank Caltabilota of West Long Branch, John Giunta of Vineland, and Aaron Karol of Green Brook.
Karol's father, Joseph Karol, thanked prosecutors for their dedication but said little else as he left the courthouse after the pleas.
"I will tell you that I'll have plenty to say at sentencing,'' Karol said.
The deadly fire led New Jersey to enact the nation's first mandatory dormitory sprinkler law, requiring the devices at all residential colleges and boarding schools.
Each man also admitted he met after the blaze at a Dunkin' Donuts in Madison and induced others to say they weren't involved in the fire.
In return for guilty pleas to arson and witness tampering, prosecutors dropped harsher charges against the lifelong friends from Florham Park. LePore also pleaded guilty to resisting arrest, a disorderly persons offense, and prosecutors dropped charges against his parents, sister and friend that included hindering apprehension.
Under the plea bargain, prosecutors will recommend the men be sentenced to a maximum of five years in state prison, with no parole eligibility for 16 months. Fines also could be imposed at their sentencing Jan. 26.
Defense attorneys on Wednesday said the deal was appropriate in part because the school did not have adequate systems to prevent the blaze from spreading.
"The intervening cause was Seton Hall's lack of response in preventing fires,'' said William DeMarco, LePore's lawyer.
The attorney noted that fire hoses had been removed a week before the fire, staff had no fire training, and the dorms "were rife with false alarms.''
"If they had fire suppression systems the fire would not have spread,'' DeMarco said.
The defendants did not speak to reporters. Their attorneys said the men felt terrible about what happened but, with the sentencings pending, it was not the time to speak or express remorse.
The university had no immediate response to the comments, but Essex County Prosecutor Paula Dow said the defense lawyers had no business putting blame on the school.
"Shame on them. They've had six years to come up with something and that's the best they can do? Shame on them,'' she said.
Dow said the plea bargain was fair, especially because the state's case depended on circumstantial evidence.
"We had no eyewitnesses, other than the defendants themselves, who could place the defendants at that location,'' she said.
Dow, who spoke to media with family members of the fire's victims behind her, said most of the families supported the deals but noted that some believed harsher punishment should have been obtained. Most family members did not comment.
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