NBCNewYork.com

This file photo of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York shows Federal Reserve police patrolling the building at 33 Liberty St. At inset is the suspect, Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis.

Published 5:00 p.m. ET: A Bangladesh native pleaded guilty to terror charges in Brooklyn federal court on Thursday for attempting to bomb the Federal Reserve Bank in Lower Manhattan last fall.

"I had intended to commit a violent jihadist act before I met the undercover officer in this case," Quazi Mohammad Nafis told the judge. "I no longer support violent jihad. I sincerely regret my involvement in this case."

Nafis faces a possible life term at sentencing on May 30.

FBI agents set up a sting operation to arrest him last October. Officials said Nafis, who was 21 when he was arrested, came to the U.S. on a student visa and briefly attended school in Missouri before moving to New York City in the spring of 2012.

As part of the FBI sting, Nafis drove a van loaded with dummy explosives to the door of the bank and tried to detonate the device, which he thought was a 1,000-pound bomb, from a nearby hotel room using a cell phone rigged to set it off.

He also believed he had the blessing of al-Qaida and was acting on behalf of it, but he has no known ties to the terrorist group, according to federal officials.

He was charged with attempting to provide material support for a terrorist organization and attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction.

Nafis had also proposed various targets beyond the Fed building at 33 Liberty St., according to prosecutors.