Ex-worker pleads guilty to setting nuke sub fire

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) -- A former shipyard worker who set a fire that caused about $450 million in damage to a nuclear submarine has pleaded guilty under an agreement that could send him to prison for nearly 20 years.

U.S. Attorney Thomas Delahanty II says 24-year-old Casey James Fury, formerly of Portsmouth, N.H., waived indictment and pleaded guilty Thursday to two counts of arson.

The defense and prosecutors agreed to recommend a sentence that ranges roughly between 15 years and 19 years. Fury could withdraw his guilty plea if a harsher sentence is imposed.

It took more than 100 firefighters to save the USS Miami as the fire spread through forward compartments while the sub was in dry dock at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine.

The Navy said seven people were hurt.

The Navy intends to repair the sub, which is based in Groton, Conn., with a goal of returning it to sea in 2015.