Three people were convicted of manslaughter Friday in the 2015 building explosion that killed two men and leveled two buildings in New York City's East Village.

The Manhattan District Attorney's Office announced that a jury found landlord Maria Hrynenko, 59, plumber Athanasios 'Jerry' Ioannidis, 63, and contractor Dilber Kukic, 44, guilty of manslaughter in the second degree for the deaths of two men in the explosion.

The three were also found guilty of assault in the second and third degrees and reckless endangerment in the second degree, for the serious injuries to 13 people who were caught in the blast that leveled two building.

During the trial, prosecutors said that the three defendants were caught by utility firm Con Edison for an illegal gas line constructed with leak-prone plastic pipe seven months before the explosion.

Con Edison ordered them to fix the problem, but instead they devised a way to illegally tap into the gas line of 119 Second Avenue, owned by Hrynenko, to provide gas to the apartments at 121 Second Avenue, Hrynenko's other building. The second gas line was hidden from Con Edison and city inspectors inside a locked utility room, Clarke said.

Prosecutors said the defendants displayed a 'blatant disregard for the well-being of others' when they 'ignored' the risks and rushed the project because Hrynenko didn't want to lose rent income from the $6,000-per-month apartments.

Prosecutors also said Ioannidis was operating without a license, and the building owner, Hrynenko, urged him and Kukic to do the work as fast as possible, before Con Edison could inspect the site.

The gas that escaped from the faulty and illegal hook-up was said to have caught on fire, triggering an explosion that leveled two buildings, killing a busboy Moises Locon, 26, and restaurant guest Nicholas Figueroa, 23.

The two men were in a Japanese restaurant housed in one of the two buildings Hrynenko owned.

The explosion also injured two dozen others, among them Kukic and the landlord’s son, Michael Hryenko Jr., as well as former fire department Battalion Chief Edward Tierney.


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