ABINGDON, Va. – With a five-year mandatory minimum sentence hanging over his head, a 23-year-old Coeburn man pleaded guilty Tuesday to burning the High Knob observation tower.

“I set fire to the High Knob Tower, I lied to investigators … and I helped set fire to the bathrooms down at Hanging Rock [Recreation Area],” Nicholas Owens said in response to a question from U.S. Magistrate Judge Pamela Meade Sargent.

Owens, who did not have a plea agreement with prosectuors, had just joined the Coeburn Volunteer Fire Department when the fires were set.

Neither he nor his attorney had any comment after Sargent found him competent to stand trial and recommended that the court accept the plea.

Owens pleaded guilty Tuesday to three charges connected to the Halloween 2007 arson of the tower and a restroom facility that also was on national forest land. He pleaded guilty to arson of a U.S. government facility, arson on U.S. government property and making false statements to law enforcement officers.

The maximum penalty is 50 years in prison and a $750,000 fine. His sentencing is scheduled for April 8 in Big Stone Gap, Va.

His co-defendant, 24-year-old Christopher Hyatt, pleaded guilty in June to arson on U.S. government property and making false statements to law enforcement. His sentencing is set for April 9, also in Big Stone Gap.

“We’re just glad the case has been resolved,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Randy Ramseyer said. “The investigators did a good job of bringing the defendants to justice.”

The three-story tower, which was at an elevation of 4,162 feet and overlooked five states, became a community hangout that also drew tourists to the area. Both it and the bathroom facility were destroyed in the fires.

As Owens and Hyatt await sentencing, members of the community continue their work to raise the $500,000 needed to rebuild the tower, said Rita McReynolds, finance chairwoman for the High Knob Enhancement Corp., which was created for that purpose. So far, the organization has raised more than $156,000, including a recent $75,000 donation from Cumberland Resources, a local coal company.

McReynolds said the effort for the Wise County landmark began shortly after the fire, in December of 2007.

“There was just a tremendous outcry from folks to rebuild it, so that process began immediately,” she said. “We’re all sad it happened [but] we’ve moved beyond that and we’re looking forward to the future, to the tower being rebuilt bigger and better.”

McReynolds said the tower will be rebuilt with materials that won’t burn.

“It’s not only a historical attraction, it’s near and dear to our hearts. That area really means a lot to folks in Wise County, Scott County and the city of Norton,” she said. “It’s just a place we all grew up around.”

A 23-year-old Coeburn man pleaded guilty Tuesday to setting fire to the High Knob observation tower and a nearby restroom facility on Halloween 2007, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Roanoke announced.

Nicholas Owens pleaded guilty to all charges against him, without the benefit of a plea agreement.

He was charged with one count of burning buildings owned by the United States, one count of burning buildings with the special territorial jurisdiction of the United States and one count of lying to investigators, according to the press release from the attorney’s office.

His co-defendant, Christopher Domonic Hyatt, previously pleaded guilty to the charges against him. In the early morning hours of Oct. 31, 2007, Owens set fire to the High Knob tower in Wise County and, together with Hyatt, set fire to a restroom located in the Hanging Rock Recreation Area in Scott County, the release states.

Both buildings were destroyed. The structures were located within the Jefferson National Forest.

“The senseless actions of these two men destroyed a beloved and historic structure and was a tragedy for the entire community,” U. S. Attorney Julia C. Dudley said in Tuesday’s news release. “I am happy that both defendants have taken responsibility for their crimes. Perhaps now, the community can put this behind them and continue to move forward in the effort to rebuild the High Knob Observation Tower.”

Owens will be sentenced April 8 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Big Stone Gap.

The case was investigated by Special Agent Larry Fisher of the U.S. Forest Service Law Enforcement and Investigations, the Wise County Sheriff’s Office, Norton Police Department and Coeburn Police Department. The Coeburn Volunteer Fire Department and Norton Fire Department provided valuable assistance in the investigation.

Assistant U. S. Attorney Randy Ramseyer is prosecuting the case, according to the news release.