The judge ordered Antonio Espaillat López, Maribel Espaillat de Beras, Evelyn Espaillat and Ana Grecia López to place a precautionary attachment and register a judicial mortgage on the movable property, for the sum of RD$500 million
SANTO DOMINGO.- After more than a year of court proceedings, protests, mourning, and tears of grief among victims and their families, yesterday, June 15, Judge Raymundo Mejía Ortiz, of the First Court of Instruction of the National District, ruled to send to trial the siblings Antonio and Maribel Espaillat, owners of the Jet Set nightclub, where on April 8, 2025, 236 people died and more than 180 were injured after the roof of the establishment collapsed.
After learning of the ruling, the Public Prosecutor's Office said that the court fully accepted the accusation of that prosecuting body against Antonio Espaillat and Maribel Espaillat and assured that it will seek the maximum penalty for the defendants who, according to the judicial authorities, incurred involuntary homicide and involuntary blows and injuries, by acting with the systematic negligence that led to the collapse of the roof of the Jet Set.
Deputy Attorney General Wilson Camacho, head of the General Directorate of Prosecution of the Public Ministry, considered that the decision of the First Court of Instruction of the National District to order the opening of a trial against the Espaillat brothers, for violation of Articles 319 and 320 of the Dominican Penal Code, is in accordance with the law.
In that regard, he stated that now, in the trial, the prosecution teams will seek to ensure that the defendants receive the maximum penalty established by law.
“The court’s decision fully accepted the Public Prosecutor’s accusation, and not only the Public Prosecutor’s accusation, but also that of 42 of the 54 plaintiffs who joined the Public Prosecutor’s accusation,” Camacho explained, in an interview with the press after the ruling issued by Judge Raymundo Mejía Ortiz.
“The judge imposed as a real coercive measure: the freezing of 500 million pesos; so that the victims can have the assurance, as this case goes to trial, that their rights can be compensated,” said Camacho, who represented the Public Ministry along with prosecutors Emmanuel Ramírez, Rosa Ysabel, Miguel Collado and Magali Sánchez.
He recalled that, in the case of the Jet Set roof collapse, "there are no words to describe the pain it caused to the direct victims and the pain it caused in the very soul of the Dominican people.".
“From the very beginning, we have done everything the law has allowed us to do, from gathering evidence and ordering an expert report with the participation of an international expert to collect the facts as they occurred and present them in court,” he said.
“Today the court has accepted these facts, sent them to trial, now we intend to go to trial to seek the maximum penalty allowed by law in this type of case,” he said.
Regarding the journalists' question about the inclusion of the defendants' expert report, he stated: "We are not concerned about that report, because it also states that there was negligence and recklessness, and that is what the Public Prosecutor's Office has charged."
"Both expert reports conclude that the Jet Set collapse was the fault of both defendants, and now we are going to trial to ensure they are held accountable for their actions," he indicated.
In his decision, the judge admits the facts contained in the accusation and all the testimonial, expert, documentary and material evidence presented by the Public Prosecutor's Office.
Furthermore, it maintains the coercive measure against the defendants, consisting of an economic guarantee of 50 million pesos for each one, prevention of leaving the country and periodic appearance before the Public Prosecutor's Office.
The court admits the entities Difusora Hemisferio, SRL, Inversiones CCEP-2, SA, Evelyn Espaillat and Ana Grecia López, as third parties civilly liable, in addition to admitting the evidence contained in their respective documents, which will be sent to trial together with the main accusation.
The judge ordered Antonio Espaillat López, Maribel Espaillat de Beras, Evelyn Espaillat and Ana Grecia López to place a precautionary attachment and register a judicial mortgage on the movable property, for the sum of RD$500 million, “which is double the principal sum, as well as the assets and securities of the commercial entity: Inversiones E y L, SRL, Radiocadena Comercial, SRL, Difusora Hemisferio, SRL, Inversiones CCEP-2, SA”.
The collapse of the roof of the Jet Set nightclub, located on Independencia Avenue in the El Portal sector of the National District, occurred on the night of April 8, 2025.
Recommended readings:
- Jet Set case: Espaillat brothers will go to trial for involuntary manslaughter
- Two versions of the same disaster. The two expert reports on the Jet Set: what they say and where they contradict each other
- “Structural failure is due to technical factors and prior conditions,” say experts regarding the Jet Set counter-assessment
