The Associated Press
GREENBELT, Md. — One of the men accused of setting a series of fires at an upscale housing development under construction in the Washington suburbs pleaded guilty Monday to conspiracy to commit arson.
Michael McIntosh Everhart, 21, of Waldorf faces at least five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, the U.S. attorney’s office said. Sentencing was set for Sept. 8.
A trial of Everhart and Roy McCann ended in a hung jury in March. They were the last of five men to face court action for the Dec. 6, 2004, fires at Hunters Brooke in Indian Head. The five were accused of setting fire to two dozen houses in various stages of completion and of trying to torch 11 others.
No one was injured, but damage was estimated at more than $3.2 million.
Authorities alleged several motives in the fires, including anger by some defendants that most Hunters Brooke buyers were black.
Ringleader Patrick Walsh, 21, was convicted last year and sentenced to nearly 20 years in prison. Two others pleaded guilty. McCann, 23, goes on trial in June 2007.