2 enter pleas in deadly pier collapse

The operator of a pier that collapsed in 2000, killing three nightclub patrons and injuring 43 others, pleaded guilty Monday to three counts of involuntary manslaughter. The pier's owner pleaded no contest to the same counts.

The pleas by operator Eli Karetny and owner Michael Asbell came as jury selection was to begin in their second trial.

A jury last fall heard their case but couldn't reach a verdict. During that eight-week trial, prosecutors maintained that Asbell and Karetny knew the pier was likely to collapse but still allowed the nightclub atop it to open on May 18, 2000.

Karetny, 66, of Cherry Hill, N.J., also pleaded guilty to 43 counts of reckless endangerment. In exchange, prosecutors dropped charges of conspiracy and risking catastrophe.

Asbell, 64, of Merion, also pleaded no contest to 43 counts of reckless endangerment, one count of conspiracy and one count of risking catastrophe.

Both men face possible prison time when they are sentenced June 22; the maximum sentence for each involuntary manslaughter count is 2 1/2 to five years.

When the pier collapsed, Jean Marie Ferraro, 27, Monica Rodriguez, 21, and DeAnn White, 25, were at the nightclub celebrating White's upcoming birthday and Rodriguez's first day on the job. The three women died when the east end of the pier plummeted into the Delaware River below.

Rodriguez's father, Manuel Rodriguez, said Monday that his family was relieved that there would not be a second trial.

"I don't know if we would have had the stamina to go through this again," he said.

Karetny and Asbell, along with their attorneys, declined to comment as they left the courthouse. Nearly $30 million in civil settlements have already been paid in the case.

During last year's trial, prosecutors said the men opened the nightclub for business that night despite dire warnings from their own contractors that the pier would soon collapse into the river _ with one inspector even correctly predicting when it would likely occur.

The defense said the two businessmen were not warned of the impending collapse, and they blamed the structural failure on engineers who they said were trying to shift blame away from themselves.