Charleston, W.Va. (AP) -- A man accused of damaging the West Virginia Veterans Memorial with his car has pleaded no contest to destruction of property.

Howard Roland Gentry of Newton entered his plea Monday before his trial was scheduled to begin in Kanawha County Circuit Court.

Circuit court judge Charlie King sentenced Gentry on the felony charge to no more than a year's probation.

Police said Gentry's two-door sports coupe scraped between the memorial's curved granite monoliths on the Capitol complex grounds on March 25, 2007.

The state sued Gentry in March seeking to recover $56,162 in repair costs.

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