Jul 29, 2010 7:04 pm US/Eastern

Lawyer: Chinese Student Has Charges Reduced

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) ― Charges have been reduced against a former college student accused of threatening to burn down a campus building, and he has agreed to return to his native China, the man's defense lawyer said Thursday.

Zhai Tiantian, a former graduate student at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, was arrested April 15 and faced a charge of making a terroristic threat. A judge has reduced it to a disorderly persons offense, said Zhai's attorney, Ming Hai.

Some Chinese media outlets had reported that Zhai had been arrested for allegedly being a terrorist, but the terroristic threat charge can refer to a range of verbal threats.

Zhai remains in immigration detention, and has agreed to purchase his own ticket back to China. He will be escorted to the airport by Homeland Security officials, according to his lawyer.

Stevens officials had said Zhai was suspended March 11 — nearly a month before his arrest — after an investigation found that he had violated the school's code of conduct.

Hai said his client maintains he never intended to harm the school, and that he loves America and hopes to return one day.

Zhai plans to return around Aug. 15 to his native Xian City and reunite with his parents, whom he hasn't seen in 10 years, his lawyer said.