BY WILL COLLINS

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

After setting fire to the USS Miami, a nuclear powered submarine, on two separate occasions and causing an estimated $400 million in damage, a civilian painter may face up to life in prison with a hefty fine of $250,000.

Casey James Fury, 24, set fire to the USS Miami once on May 23 and a second time on June 16, according to CBS News. Each time, Fury explained that his anxiety had gotten the best of him, and he set the fires in order to leave work early.

CBS News reports that Fury was assigned to strip paint in the torpedo room while the submarine was in a dry dock for an overhaul in Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. While working on the submarine, Fury was on multiple medications to treat him for anxiety and depression.

Fury initially denied any involvement in either of the fires, according to the Associated Press. Then, during a polygraph test, he admitted he wasn’t being truthful.

The June 16 fire took place after a text conversation with his ex-girlfriend left him feeling anxious, and he wanted to leave work early. Fury explained the initial May 23 fire took place after his anxiety became too much to handle and he set fire to a bag of rags on top of one of the bunks, which took 12 hours to extinguish.

The Associated Press acknowledged that Fury’s public defender, David Beneman, did not speak in court and refused to make any comments to the press after Fury’s first court appearance on Monday.