SAN FRANCISCO -- A man once accused of attempting to set fire to San Francisco's historic Grace Cathedral has been released from custody after pleading no contest Friday to reduced misdemeanor charges, his attorney said Monday.

San Francisco police arrested Paul Addis -- an "eccentric" performance artist according to his attorney, public defender Tal Klement -- outside the cathedral Oct. 28, his backpack laden with fireworks.

Police reported at the time that he had other items with him that "led officers to believe he might be up to something," and that a neighbor reportedly heard Addis say, "The cathedral isn't going to be there anymore."

Addis had originally been charged with a felony count of attempted arson, felony charges of possessing explosives and incendiary devices, and a misdemeanor count of altering an imitation firearm.

He had remained in custody in San Francisco County Jail since that time.

On Friday, Addis agreed to plead no contest to only misdemeanor charges of fireworks possession and altering an imitation firearm, in return for three years of court probation, according to public defender Tal Klement.

Klement said Monday he thought the agreed upon charges were appropriate.

"He was gonna set off some fireworks," Klement said. "He didn't have any intention of harming anybody or damaging Grace Cathedral."

"He never said, 'I'm gonna go burn down Grace Cathedral,'" Klement added.

Addis has also been ordered to undergo six months of counseling, and to stay at least 150 yards away from Grace Cathedral, according to Klement.

The San Francisco District Attorney's Office was not immediately available for comment.

Addis was earlier charged in Nevada for allegedly setting the Burning Man effigy on fire before it was scheduled to be torched at the annual counterculture festival held each Labor Day weekend in Nevada's Black Rock Desert. Addis is now scheduled to return to Nevada to face those charges, according to Klement.

Klement said Addis has a one-man show where he plays the late "Gonzo" journalist Hunter S. Thompson, an irreverent writer and author of "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," whose interests included psychedelics, explosives and firearms. Thompson committed suicide in 2005, found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.