Brian David Monday, 30, of St. Charles County, was indicted Feb. 2 by a federal grand jury in St. Louis for allegedly pointing a green laser bean at the cockpit of an airplane and into a helicopter on Nov. 4 in St. Charles County.

If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and fines up to $250,000.

"It is important to understand that the laser is no longer a pinpoint but a bright spotlight by the time it hits an aircraft," said Thomas R. Metz, acting special agent in charge of the FBI St. Louis Division. "It interferes with the operation of an aircraft because pilots are temporarily blinded."

The FBI investigated the case.