CLARION, Pa. (EYT) — A Rimersburg man accused of setting an abandoned building on fire in September of 2017 in Porter Township will be sentenced on Wednesday in Clarion County Court of Common Pleas.

According to court documents, on January 9, 2019, 67-year-old Nelson Keith Byers, of Rimersburg, pleaded nolo contendere to a second-degree misdemeanor charge of Recklessly Endangering Another Person.

Nolo contendere is a plea by which a defendant in a criminal prosecution accepts a conviction as though a guilty plea had been entered but does not admit guilt.

As a result of the plea, the following charges were dismissed:

– Arson-Danger Of Death or Bodily Injury, Felony 1
– Arson Endangering Property-Reckless Endangerment of Inhabited Buildings, Felony 2
– Dangerous Burning, Summary

He will be sentenced at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, February 6, by President Judge James G. Arner.

He is currently free on $35,000.00 unsecured bail.

Details of the case:

The charges stem from a structure fire on September 5, 2017, at the former Porter Township Elementary School in the area of 1200 Rockville Road just off Curllsville Road.

The building, which is owned by Byers, has been abandoned for several years.

During a September 7 interview at the Clarion-based State Police barracks with Pennsylvania State Police Fire Marshal Russell D. Stewart, Byers allegedly admitted that he started a fire in the building “just to burn a few items.”

“I burn materials there all the time, but I don’t burn materials to burn the building down,” Byers told Stewart during the interview.

Court documents detailing the charges against Byers indicate that he put firefighters and neighbors in danger by setting the fire.