Defendants In Oakland Ghost Ship Fire Case Plead No Contest To Manslaughter

Three dozen people were killed in a December 2016 fire at the warehouse known as the Ghost Ship, which had been illegally occupied as an artists’ colony. Derek Almena, who held the lease to the building, and Max Harris, who assisted Almena as a sort of super, initially pled not guilty but have now pleaded no contest to 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter and are expected to serve several years in prison.