NEW CASTLE — A man has pleaded guilty to causing a house explosion that damaged nearly four dozen homes in an alleged suicide attempt.

Thirty-one-year-old Patrick Henry, of New Castle, entered the plea to one count of arson Monday in Lawrence County Court in a plea deal.

He had been charged with more than 100 other crimes. He faces seven to 10 years in jail when he is sentenced in January and will have to pay more than $1 million in restitution.

Authorities say Henry unscrewed a natural gas line at his rental home on Nov. 27, 2006.

Henry was injured, as were a about dozen other people, including two friends who went to check on him when he missed work that day.