PORTLAND – A 19-year-old former Fryeburg Academy student was sentenced to 57 months in federal prison Tuesday and ordered to pay $1.8 million in restitution for his role in a fire that destroyed the gymnasium.

Maxx Noble, formerly of Lovell, was acquitted of arson but was convicted of conspiracy after a trial in August. The sentence imposed by Judge D. Brock Hornby came close to the maximum penalty of 60 months in prison.

No one was injured in the fire on Oct. 12, 2005, but it destroyed the $1.7 million recreation complex as well as athletic equipment.

The defense acknowledged that Noble and co-defendant Philip Thibault were at the gym on the night of the fire and that they stole athletic equipment that was recovered near Noble’s home. But the defense claimed that Noble left before Thibault set the fire.

Thibault, who testified against Noble, was sentenced in September to 40 months after pleading guilty to an arson charge.

Thibault was arrested in December 2005 in Michigan. Noble was arrested in Florida and was returned to Maine in January 2006.