SPRINGFIELD -- A federal grand jury Wednesday indicted a part-time Decatur fry cook on charges that say he attempted to blow up the federal courthouse in Springfield last month.

The two-count indictment accuses Michael Finton -- also known as "Talib Islam" -- of attempted murder of a federal officer or employee and attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction.

Finton, 29, has been in federal custody since his arrest Sept. 23 after authorities said he tried to carry out the bombing.

The three-page indictment alleges he parked a van he believed contained about a ton of explosives in front of the Paul Findley Federal Building and Courthouse in downtown Springfield, intending that the bomb would destroy the building and kill its occupants.

"The defendant intended to kill those persons because of their status as federal officers and employees in the hope of thereby influencing the policy and affecting the conduct of the United States government by intimidation, coercion, and mass destruction," the indictment notes.

Finton allegedly left the van and used a cellular telephone at a nearby location to send a signal he believed would detonate the explosives.

The device, however, was not really a bomb. The FBI says it had been tracking Finton's activities for two years.

Authorities say Finton drew the attention of investigators after he converted to Islam while serving an armed robbery sentence in the Illinois prison system and expressed his admiration for John Walker Lindh, an American who was captured fighting for the Taliban.

Investigators also say Finton received money from an individual in Saudi Arabia and traveled there in April 2008.

Authorities say an agent posing as a low-level al-Qaeda operative met Finton numerous times and eventually worked with him on a plan to target the federal building and a district office of U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock across the street.

The FBI says no one was in danger from the fake bomb.

If convicted, Finton faces a maximum penalty of life in prison for attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction against property owned by the U.S. The penalty for attempting to murder a federal officer or employee is up to 20 years in prison.

A court date has not been set.