BANGOR – A Plymouth man who a year ago survived a 50-foot fall at work pleaded guilty Monday in Penobscot County Superior Court to manslaughter in the death of his girlfriend in a car accident last summer.

Nicholas Wark, 23, was headed home on Aug. 6 with his fiancee, Jessica Gibbons, 20, of Plymouth when he swerved into oncoming traffic on Route 7 as a way of greeting the driver of a vehicle traveling in the opposite direction. The two collided head-on with Roger Condon, 49, of Detroit.

A sentencing date has not been set.

Gibbons died at the scene. Condon and Wark were taken to Eastern Maine Medical Center. Condon had a broken nose and facial injuries, and Wark had a broken ankle, according to Penobscot County Sheriff’s Deputy James Kennedy.

Wark, who works for Cianbro, was seriously injured on Feb. 26, 2004, when he fell 52 feet between a cluster of six silos while working at Dragon Products Co. in Thomaston. Emergency crews worked two hours to remove him from the confined space.

Defense attorney Peter Baldacci of Bangor said Monday outside the courtroom that Wark had recovered from his injuries and returned to work when the fatal car accident occurred.

Wearing bluejeans and a long-sleeved white shirt, Wark quietly answered Maine Superior Court Justice Jeffrey Hjelm’s questions about his decision to plead guilty.

Gibbon’s mother, Debbie Burpee of Dixmont, sat next to Wark in the third-floor courtroom as they waited for the proceeding to begin. She said outside the courtroom that Wark had supported Gibbon’s 5-year-old daughter.

“I came here to support him,” Burpee said. “He’s been a father to my granddaughter. It would hurt her terribly if he has to go to jail.”

Wark faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison. Assistant Penobscot County District Attorney Greg Campbell told the court Monday that his office would recommend Wark be sentenced to seven years in prison, with all but 18 months suspended, and fours years of probation.

Baldacci said that he would urge the judge to impose a sentence of less than a year in jail.