Prison for pair convicted in Center City collapse deaths

For 28 minutes on Friday, demolition contractor Griffin Campbell tried to convince a city judge that the Center City collapse that killed six people and injured 13 was an accident, that he really was sorry, and that he deserved a "fair chance . . . to prove to you, your honor, the person that I am."

Nevertheless, Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Glenn B. Bronson sentenced Campbell to 15 to 30 years for his role in the June 5, 2013, Salvation Army thrift store catastrophe. It was not the 25 to 50 years requested by prosecutors but was still significant.

Bronson cited the 51-year-old North Philadelphia man's lack of concern for public safety, and the need for accountability for those killed and injured when a free-standing masonry wall left from a four-story building Campbell was demolishing toppled and flattened the one-story thrift shop.

"There is no adequate way to describe here the impact of this on the victims and the many victims who did not die," Bronson told Campbell. "This tragedy shocked this city to its core. We may never feel quite the same walking down the streets of Center City Philadelphia."

That disparity between the prison time requested and imposed was lost on Campbell's family members, who stormed out of the packed courtroom, crying and screaming an obscenity.

Campbell, who will appeal his conviction, shook his head as he was escorted from court.

Bronson also sentenced Sean Benschop, 44, the excavator operator Campbell had hired to take down the wall. He was given 71/2 to 15 years in prison.

In contrast to Campbell, Benschop broke down and sobbed as he described his guilt about causing the deaths and injuries to which he pleaded guilty.

Benschop, tall, gaunt, and lost inside his too-large white shirt and drooping necktie, told Bronson he chose between getting paid and walking away.

"I knew one of the victims personally," Benschop said, referring to Borbor Davis, 68, who worked in the Salvation Army shop. Benschop said that while he was on the site, the two would get together for coffee and to discuss their immigrant experiences: Davis was Liberian, Benschop from Guyana.

"When I learned that he was one of those [killed] inside, I couldn't believe it," Benschop said.

Benschop's attorney, William Davis, acknowledged the in-court support of Benschop's wife of 22 years, his three sons, two sisters, mother, and two other relatives, but called no witnesses.

Davis said Benschop wanted to plead guilty and "get out of the way of the healing process the families of the victims are going through."

Assistant District Attorney Edward Cameron urged Bronson to sentence Benschop to 71/2 to 15 years in recognition of his remorse and testimony at Campbell's trial.

"His first words to me were that he knew he made a big mistake and he's sorry for it," said Cameron. "He said he decided to feed his family and take the risk."

Bronson heard several victim impact statements, including an emotional recollection of 24-year-old Anne Bryan by her mother, Nancy Winkler.

"This has changed me forever," said Winkler, Philadelphia's city treasurer. "Not a day that goes by that I don't miss Anne and mourn for her."

Afterward, Winkler and her husband, Jay Bryan, appeared resigned to the sentences, and she told Bronson that "full justice did not happen in this trial."

Winkler was referring to the fact that only Campbell and Benschop were criminally charged in the collapse. The site's owner, developer Richard Basciano, was not charged, and Plato A. Marinakos Jr., the demolition architect who hired Campbell, was granted immunity from prosecution in exchange for his testimony at trial and before the county grand jury in the case.

Still, Winkler said she thought the trial necessary: "As terrible as it was, it was needed to get the story out there so that people could understand what happened."

Campbell, a house renovator who hoped to move into the more lucrative field of razing large Center City buildings in preparation for redevelopment, was acquitted in October of more serious charges - third-degree murder and conspiracy - that could have resulted in a life term. The jury found him guilty of involuntary manslaughter and related offenses.

Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Selber agreed that Campbell was not guilty of murder but added that the collapse was no accident.

"What came out during this trial was his reckless, callous disregard for public safety that happened over a course of months," Selber said.

Selber said Campbell shortchanged public safety - removing valuable old-wood beams and posts - to maximize the salvage value of building materials.

He made a "decision to value money over safety. He thought that when he rolled the dice, they would roll his way," Selber said.

Campbell's attorney, William D. Hobson, appeared to struggle to control his emotions as he asked the judge not to sentence "my client, my friend," to a life in prison.

He had focused much of his defense on the fact that two black men were criminally charged while the white property owner and the white architect were not.

Prosecutors have said that there was no evidence that Basciano had any criminal involvement in the events leading to the collapse, and that Marinakos was granted immunity in return for his testimony.

While Friday's sentencings bring the criminal case to a close, civil litigation involving the deadly incident is far from over. Campbell and Benschop are defendants in a massive personal-injury lawsuit set to come to trial in Common Pleas Court on Sept. 6.

Basciano and Marinakos are also named in the civil case, along with 14 other people and entities.

According to trial testimony, Basciano hired Marinakos as the architect overseeing demolition and site preparation of five buildings in the 2100 and 2200 blocks of Market.

Marinakos hired Campbell, with whom he had done business before, and Campbell hired Benschop and his excavator.

On the day of the collapse, the demolition work was down to a four-story building, more than a century old, at 2136-38 Market St. It was adjacent to and loomed over the Salvation Army thrift store at 22d Street and Market.

Benschop's excavator was picking at a back wall when the unsupported side wall crushed the thrift.

jslobodzian@phillynews.com

215-854-2985@joeslobo

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