PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – The former manager of the heavy metal rock group Great White agreed Tuesday to plead guilty to 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter stemming from the deadly 2003 nightclub fire.

Superior Court Judge Francis Darigan said Daniel Biechele will serve no more than 10 years in state prison under a deal with prosecutors, sparing him the possibility of many more years behind bars. He is scheduled to enter the plea next Tuesday.

Biechele, 29, who is out on bail, was originally charged with 200 counts of involuntary manslaughter for setting the blaze that began when he ignited pyrotechnics during a Great White performance on Feb. 20, 2003, at The Station nightclub in West Warwick.

The blaze killed 100 people, including eight who lived or worked in Connecticut.

Sparks from the pyrotechnics ignited highly flammable foam lining the club’s walls and ceiling, creating a fast-moving blaze that also injured more than 200 people in the fourth-deadliest nightclub fire in the country’s history.

Each manslaughter charge carries a maximum of 30 years in prison, though Biechele could only have been sentenced on 100 of the 200 counts if convicted of all the charges.

Darigan did not say whether Biechele will cooperate with prosecutors in the case against club owners Jeffrey and Michael Derderian, who are also each charged with 200 counts of involuntary manslaughter and accused of installing flammable foam in the club in violation of the state fire code.

Tom Briody, a lawyer for Biechele, declined to comment about the terms of the plea deal, but told reporters that Biechele never intended to harm anyone and was remorseful. He said his client had made a “very personal decision to take responsibility for his actions” on the night of the deadly blaze.

“He hopes that his decision today will give some small measure of peace to the victims of this terrible tragedy,” Briody said.

Briody had said Biechele had permission to ignite the pyrotechnics during the concert, but the Derderians have disputed that claim.

Kathleen Hagerty, a lawyer for the Derderians, declined to comment on Biechele’s deal.

Some victims’ relatives reacted angrily to the news.

“My daughter’s life is worth more than a plea bargain,” Diane Mattera, who lost her 29-year-old daughter, Tammy, in the fire said before the hearing.

“For the 100 victims, and for all the ones that are burnt and scarred and everything else, they deserve much more than this – not a plea bargain,” she said. “This is absolutely wrong.”

Attorney General Patrick Lynch issue a press release Tuesday afternoon saying his office had been prepared to go to trial. He did not explain why prosecutors agreed to the deal and did not address concerns from some of the victims’ relatives who were angered by news of the plea agreement.

Lynch’s office did not immediately respond to requests for an interview.

The deal is likely to change the landscape of the criminal case against the Derderians, said David Frank, a former prosecutor and current reporter for Rhode Island Lawyers’ Weekly and Massachusetts Lawyers’ Weekly. It could make it easier for them to point blame at Biechele if he admits responsibility.

“His lawyer isn’t there to sort of present his side of the story or present his spin,” Frank said. “So it really allows the Derderians to put whatever blame or whatever responsibility they think is appropriate on this manager.”

The upside for prosecutors is that it would remove the uncertainty of a jury trial, he said.

“You never know what’s going to happen in any case in front of a jury,” added Andrew Horwitz, a criminal law professor at Roger Williams University in Bristol.

One count per death alleged criminal negligence, the other accused the defendants of committing underlying misdemeanor offenses that led to the deaths.

Under Biechele’s deal, he would plead guilty to the counts related to misdemeanor offenses. The other 100 counts would be dismissed, Darigan said.

AP-ES-01-31-06 1745EST