By ELAINE SILVESTRINI | The Tampa Tribune Published: August 20, 2012 Updated: August 20, 2012 - 12:54 PM

TAMPA A former Freedom High School student will face charges alleging he plotted a Columbine-style attack at the school, a Circuit Court judge has ruled.

Jared Cano's plans to blow up the school were nothing more than a "half-baked scheme," according to his lawyer, Norman S. Canella Sr., who filed a motion asking a judge to dismiss charges of threatening to discharge a destructive device and attempting to discharge a destructive device with intention to harm.

Canella argued that the items assembled by Cano including a timer, pipes and chemicals could not have exploded or hurt anyone.

But Assistant State Attorney John Terry said it doesn't matter under the law whether Cano's bomb would have succeeded.

Cano told a high school student about his plans, and the student was concerned enough to go to police and become an informant, Terry said. Cano made a timer and compiled bomb ingredients and instructions.

"The Legislature wants to stop these people before they actually make these bombs," Terry said during a hearing last Month before Circuit Court Judge Kimberly Fernandez.

Fernandez has issued a written order denying the defense motion, siding with the prosecution. Fernandez wrote that a jury could reasonably conclude that Cano's actions fulfilled the legal requirements for a conviction.

"I was disappointed, but not shocked," Canella said Monday. "I need to consult with my client. Obviously, there is a real possibility of an appeal."

Cano, who had been expelled from the school, was arrested in August 2011 after authorities said they received a tip Cano wanted to bomb the school. Police searched his family's apartment and said they found bomb-making material, marijuana plants and a "manifesto" containing minute-by-minute plans to kill two school officials and at least 30 students.

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Ex-Freedom High student to face charges of plotting school attack