The Attorney General Office issued a press release that concludes the managers of the JetSet Club knowingly acted with negligence and lack of responsibility, yet despite the severity of the evidence, the prosecutors give a category of involuntary homicide to the collapse of the roof that killed at least 236 persons and injured another 180 on 8 April 2025. If the prosecutors maintain the category of involuntary manslaughter in the case, the accused face a maximum sentence of two years in jail.
A recent preliminary report commissioned by the National Office for Seismic Assessment and Infrastructure and Building Vulnerabilities (Onesvie) and presented on 11 June 2025 provides evidence of years of structural modifications and overloading of the roof that eventually resulted in its collapse on that tragic evening with a full house crowd inside. The report is now publicly circulating.
For the 16 June 2025 Esta Noche con Mariasela talk program, Mariasela Alvarez, Nairobi Viloria and Diana Lora interviewed defense lawyer Plinio Pina, who represents JetSet multi-task employee Gregory Adames and another eight victims. The evidence confirms the employee had warned the owners of serious problems with the roof and that evening had even recommended the cancellation of the concert.
For the same 16 June 2025 interview, lawyer Felix Portes, who represents around 30 of the victims, said he will be requesting a change in the category of the suits he had submitted, given the information that has now come forward. He is mainly referring to details resulting from interviews with now key witness Gregory Adames. Portes says the evidence now establishes that the two managers, Antonio Espaillat and his sister Maribel, were in the know that the roof had serious structural issues but chose not to act that evening. Portes explained in the Esta Noche con Mariasela interview that at first he thought it was only a simple accident, but he says the new evidence points to a different situation.
Portes says he will be requesting that the charge be for voluntary manslaughter with a qualified intent (dolus eventualis) or voluntary homicide with eventual intent, or “homicidio voluntario con dolo eventual in Spanish. This charge could mean a sentence of up to 20 years in jail.
He highlighted in the Esta Noche con Mariasela program that there is evidence this was not an accident since Antonio Espaillat was aware of the situation and nevertheless took the risk and consequences of not acting and continuing with the activities that night that put everyone’s lives at risk. Portes said that in the case of an accident nobody gets a warning. He said the evidence reveals that Antonio Espaillat was informed that evening of the serious situation with the roof after a slab concrete fell on the shoulder of a frequent customer and yet authorized that the party continue. Portes said in his first accusation he had not included Maribel Espaillat, but after the evidence came forward, he is now including the sister in the charges.
The next step in the JetSet trial is the presentation of the pre-trial custody measures on Wednesday, 18 June 2025.
The tragedy occurred on 8 April 2025. After two months, the prosecution has submitted a request for 18 months of hearings and jail for Antonio Espaillat and domiciliary arrest for his sister, Maribel. The charge of involuntary homicide comes with a sentence of three months to two years in jail.
Felix Portes criticized that the prosecution’s pre-trial custody recommendations and categorizing of the event is “benign and condescending.” Portes said that the conclusions of the prosecution mean “the accused will not need lawyers, because the prosecution is doing their job for them.” Portes called “benevolent” the request for domiciliary arrest for Maribel Espaillat on grounds that she would be free to interfere with the investigation, manipulate witnesses, obstruct evidence and the course of the investigation.
TV host Mariasela Alvarez remarked that there were many “lies” in Antonio Espaillat’s first remarks made in his interview with journalist Edith Febles to explain what he knew about the collapse of the roof. She highlighted in the interview with Febles, Espaillat repeatedly denied having knowledge the roof had structural issues.
Alvarez also questioned remarks Maribel Espaillat referred in past sense when mentioning an employee named Gregory, meaning that he was dead when she (Maribel) knew he was alive, when interviewed for a Diario Libre news story on 14 April 2025. Lawyer Plinio Pina says his client Gregory Adames fears for his life. As reported, Adames said Maribel Espaillat visited him at his home and in the conversation said that if what Adames knew went public, Antonio Espaillat could face 20 years in jail.
The Onesvie forensic report establishes that the edifice was originally built in 1973 to house a movie house. The report mentions changes to the building for its operation as a nightclub. The report points to excessive loads exceeding the structural capacity of the roof’s support elements as the primary cause. The weight placed upon the collapsed roof far surpassed the safety thresholds designed to ensure its stability. This overload ultimately compromised the structural integrity of the components responsible for maintaining the roof’s security, leading to its failure.
A report in Diario Libre on 17 June 2025 mentions several of the arguments the defense of Antonio and Maribel Espaillat can present to justify their lack of action and highlights the challenges this case will present to Dominican justice. In the coverage on 17 June 2025, the newspaper says the forensic report mentions that the roof’s metallic beams had weakened with the years.
Diario Libre in its coverage highlights that the preliminary report mentions that the deterioration was silent and deep: a phenomenon of internal corrosion that would have remained invisible despite regular visual inspections and that would only have been revealed by an exhaustive structural study, and says this was normally out of reach of the routine maintenance actions carried out by the owners.
The report also mentions the removal of a structural column to accommodate more nightclub patrons, an action that further weakened the roof.
In an interview with Sin Caretas TV, JetSet Club utility Gregory Adames gives a heart-wrenching account from the position of the employees of the firm and other victims. He says he had previously not given any interview to the media. He expressed his concerns for his safety. He says he was going public to make the Espaillat family responsible for anything that may happen to him. He has a wife and a son. He says he is not sick and is not going anywhere. He said his only intention is that truth come forward. He said he hopes the Dominican people and the families and children that were affected, can know the truth and expressed hope that Dominican justice forget the power of money. He said for this tragedy to not be repeated, there needs to be consequences. He said in the interview with Sin Caretas TV that with “two pesos” what was happening there could have been avoided. He urged “Don Antonio” to be more human.
Follow the story in Spanish:
Esta Noche con Mariasela
Esta Noche con Mariasela
Somos Pueblo
Diario Libre
Sin Caretas TV
Jose Peguero
7 Dias technical report-
17 June 2025