ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A Virginia man charged following a yearlong FBI sting with plotting to blow up a bomb inside the U.S. Capitol in a suicide operation is expected to make a second court appearance.

Twenty-nine-year-old Amine El Khalifi of Alexandria was arrested Friday and charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction. He's currently being held in jail and has a preliminary hearing scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.

Authorities say El Khalifi discussed plans to attack an Alexandria office building and a synagogue with an undercover operative he thought was a member of al-Qaida. Later, El Khalifi allegedly volunteered to wear a suicide vest and kill himself in a martyrdom operation at the Capitol.

Court documents say El Khalifi is a Moroccan native who was in the U.S. illegally.