PARIS – A 36-year-old man pleaded not guilty Friday to charges he burglarized and burned down a house in Canton last year.

James D. Burnell of Intervale Road in Jay pleaded not guilty to arson and burglary in the Oxford County Superior Court before Justice Joseph Jabar.

According to investigator Richard Shepard of the State Fire Marshal’s Office, Burnell set fire to a 2,000-square-foot, 200-year-old house off Meadow View Road on May 19. The fire also destroyed some surrounding woodlands.

Shepard said the house was not a year-round residence, and had been owned for 55 years by Donald and Shirley LeSeur of Jay.

Burnell is currently serving a two-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to stealing two trucks from Verso Paper in Jay on the same evening of the fire. He was sentenced on those charges in Franklin County in January.

Assistant District Attorney Joe O’Connor asked that Burnell’s bail be set at $5,000 or $10,000 of real estate.

Defense attorney George Hess said he did not object to the request due to Burnell’s imprisonment.