UPDATE 3/20/13 @ 10:50 a.m.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) -- A Salem International University student who terrified classmates by using a fake bomb in a class presentation is free on $5,000 bond and will return to court in four to six weeks.

Harrison County Magistrate Frank DeMarco said Wednesday that 33-year-old Clarksburg resident Joshua John Richards was pleasant, cooperative and very remorseful when he appeared in court late Tuesday.

DeMarco says Richards kept saying he was only doing a school project and was sorry for how it turned out.

Richards is facing a misdemeanor charge of manufacturing and possessing a hoax bomb - in this case, a ticking black box with a blinking green light.

That's a misdemeanor punishable by six months to a year behind bars and a fine of up to $5,000.

Richards has requested a public defender.

Harrison County Prosecutor Joe Shaffer says he's charging 33-year-old Clarksburg resident Joshua John Richards with manufacture and possession of a hoax bomb.

The misdemeanor is punishable by up to a year in prison upon conviction.

Shaffer says he'll also seek thousands of dollars' restitution for the cost of the emergency response, which involved fire and police departments, sheriff's deputies and a bomb squad.

Shaffer says Richards realized his creativity had gone awry when female classmates began crying Tuesday. He took his black box with its blinking green light to his car and waited for police.