USF Students Indicted On Explosives Charge

By ELAINE SILVESTRINI and HOWARD ALTMAN The Tampa Tribune

Published: Sep 1, 2007

TAMPA - When federal agents searched a home linked to a University of South Florida student, they looked for remote-controlled toys, electronic navigation devices, video cameras, computers and bomb-making components.

Agents think civil engineering student Ahmed Mohamed exchanged information over the Internet about how to miniaturize bombs, said a federal law enforcement official speaking anonymously because the investigation remains secret.

On Friday, authorities unsealed a Tampa-based federal grand jury's indictment accusing Mohamed of trying to help terrorists by aiding, teaching and demonstrating the use of an explosive device.

The indictment also charges Mohamed and another USF student, Youssef Megahed, with transporting explosives. Both men are Egyptian citizens - Megahed a permanent, legal U.S. resident and Mohamed visiting on a student visa. A lawyer said Mohamed was arrested in Egypt before coming to the United States.

The vaguely worded and sparse indictment says Mohamed distributed information "by any means" about the manufacture and use of an explosive device.

A Muslim community activist said authorities should disclose more evidence so people can decide the validity of the case.

"We have faith in the American judicial system," said Ahmed Bedier, executive director of the Tampa chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations. "So far we've only heard and read about vague language describing an explosive device, but no actual evidence. Until that's displayed it's going to be unclear what's going on."

Defense attorneys for both students said they are confident their clients will be cleared.

When agents searched a home where Mohamed planned to rent a room, they seized a disassembled watch, an electronics kit, compact discs and a laptop computer, according to a copy of the warrant obtained by The Tampa Tribune.

Megahed and Mohamed were pulled over for speeding in South Carolina on Aug. 4 about seven miles from the Goose Creek Naval Weapons Station, which houses a military prison for enemy combatants.

The men were charged with possession of an incendiary or explosive device, based in part on what authorities said was a pipe bomb found in the trunk of their car, authorities said. Mohamed said they were carrying fireworks.

Megahed's attorney, Andrew Savage, said he thinks his client will be exonerated, invoking the name of the former U.S. attorney general in criticizing the government's tactics.

"This is the policy of the Justice Department [described in] John Ashcroft's book that he published last October," Savage said.

Ashcroft, the lawyer added, described it as a "'spit on the sidewalk' policy. Those are his words, not mine. What he meant by that is that when you arrest someone who fits a certain profile, you detain them for as long as you can, so you can investigate as broadly and deeply as you can, no matter how minor the crime."

The indictment was welcomed by Gov. Charlie Crist, who said in a statement, "I applaud the quick action of the law enforcement officials involved in today's indictment. The local, state and federal partnership prevented a potential danger, possibly saving the lives of countless Americans."

The charge of distributing information about explosive devices carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, and the charge of transporting explosive materials carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

Mohamed May Have Egyptian Record

Savage said he learned from Mohamed's attorney that Mohamed had been arrested in Egypt.

Bedier, the Muslim activist, questioned that contention.

He said Mohamed was a professor at a state-run university in Egypt and that he was on a scholarship to attend USF. If Mohamed had been arrested in Egypt, it "would have raised all sorts of questions," Bedier said.

He said he doubts the U.S. Department of Homeland Security would have allowed Mohamed to attend school in the states if he had been arrested in Egypt.

USF spokesman Ken Gullette said the university is unaware of any criminal charges against Mohamed in Egypt. Mohamed came to USF on an F-1 student visa, "which means he was cleared by Homeland Security," Gullette said. Homeland Security and State Department officials had no comment.

Mohamed's attorney, Lyle Lofton, said he, too, is confident his client will be cleared.

"I haven't seen any of the evidence [but] based on my limited conversations, it's my opinion he will enter a plea of not guilty and in all probability will proceed to trial on these charges."

Lofton said he was retained a couple of days ago by the Egyptian Embassy. The embassy did not return a telephone message seeking comment on the case.

Bedier said he has spoken to Megahed's family, who are concerned about Megahed's mental health in the isolated cell where he is being kept.

Savage said he was with Megahed and the defendant's family, who were visiting Megahed in the Berkeley County Jail, when the indictment was announced Friday.

The visit gave the family a chance to have a contact meeting with Megahed, without being separated by glass, Savage said.

"It was kind of uplifting," he said. "His mom was rubbing his back."

Savage said his client - who was subpoenaed to provide DNA, hair and fingerprints - is confident he will be exonerated. Keeping the two men in jail, he said, is a typical government tactic.

"We were not surprised, for a lot of reasons, by the indictment," he said. "The charge you have in Tampa is essentially the same as the state court charges: possession of explosive materials. The federal charge is that they had it without a permit and crossing state lines."

Though Savage has not spoken with his client since the indictment was unsealed, he said the family is saddened, perplexed and depressed by Megahed's situation.

Shortly after the men were arrested, FBI agents searched the Megahed home, with the family's permission. There they seized a remote-controlled toy car.

"It was a toy belonging to my client's 10-year-old brother who has Down syndrome," Savage said. "It was a therapeutic device."

One week after the students' Aug. 11 arrest, the FBI searched a home at 12402 Pampas Place in Temple Terrace that is owned by Noor and Ana Salhab. Noor Salhab said Mohamed had stored some items there and planned to rent a room.

Possible Link Found To Sami Al-Arian

Federal court records show Salhab leased the Pampas Place house in the early 1990s to World and Islam Studies Enterprise, a think tank for Sami Al-Arian, the former USF professor who pleaded guilty to assisting an Islamic terrorist organization.

On the list of items agents hoped to find with the search warrant in August were fireworks, black powder, hacksaws, chemicals and soldering tools. It also looked for Christmas tree lights and cat box litter.

Agents also sought ammunition, timers and literature about chemicals, GPS devices and explosives, according to the warrant.

The log of items actually seized includes a digital camera, a swabbing from inside a suitcase and PVC pipe.

Agents also were seeking a white shirt, khaki pants and rubber gloves. They actually seized a suitcase of clothes, as well as six white shirts and a white polo shirt with a Verizon logo.

A former FBI agent who specialized in counterterrorism said the investigators may have wanted the clothing because there was a photo of the defendant wearing similar items.

"If they found a picture of him with this stuff wearing those clothes, they can look for traces of explosives on that shirt," said the retired agent, Joe Navarro, who teaches at the FBI Academy.

Retired Agent Calls Indictment 'Really Weak'

Navarro said agents have to have a reason to support the listing of each item sought in the warrant. He thought it was noteworthy that the agents sought PVC pipe and the types of pellets used in pellet guns. Both pipes and BBs were seized.

"One of the things you look at, when you're looking at explosive devices, are these devices intended to do damage for example [to] a building or to human beings," Navarro said. The suspected use of the pipes and pellets indicates an intention to hurt people, he added.

Navarro questioned why it took the FBI so long to search the premises, saying the time delay could allow for the destruction of evidence. He also described the indictment as "really weak unless they're going to come in later with some sort of superseding indictment once they've analyzed the evidence."

The first count in the indictment, which names only Mohamed, says he taught and demonstrated the use of the explosive device "in the furtherance of an activity that constitutes a federal crime of violence, to wit: a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2339A."

That statute is the law barring support to terrorist organizations.

"It's a strange way of charging," said lawyer John Fitzgibbons, a former federal prosecutor who is not involved in the case.

"It's very bizarre because they almost sneak in terrorism," Fitzgibbons said. "The $64,000 question is going to be what in the world was in that car. Was it a firecracker or was it a bomb?"

According to the indictment, Mohamed taught use of the explosive device between June and Aug. 4, the date the two students were arrested in South Carolina. Mohamed said in court that the device in the trunk was actually fireworks.

The judge who signed the warrant, U.S. Magistrate Thomas Wilson, evidently didn't think the agents had provided information to support the seizing of one category of items, as it was crossed out of the search warrant: information and data identifying the users of the items to be searched.

Wilson also crossed out a provision in the warrant that would have allowed agents to search "at any time of the day or night," requiring instead that the search be conducted between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.

If the students were traveling together with explosives in their cars and had at their homes the evidence sought in the searches, Navarro said, "at a minimum, these guys are beyond idiots … because they should avoid even the appearance of evil."

Reporters Adam Emerson, Mike Wells, Ray Reyes, Thomas W. Krause and News Channel 8 photojournalist Kate Caldwell contributed to this report. Reporter Elaine Silvestrini can be reached at (813) 259-7839 or esilvestrini@tampatrib.com.

TIMELINE

Events leading up to the indictment of Youssef Megahed and Ahmed Mohamed:

Aug. 4: Megahed and Mohamed are pulled over for speeding near the Goose Creek Naval Weapons Station in South Carolina. An explosive device is found in their car, authorities say.

Aug. 6: The two men are charged with possession of an incendiary or explosive device. They remain in jail.

Aug. 8: The FBI reviews video surveillance from a Wal-Mart and seizes a computer from Megahed's Tampa home.

Aug. 9: Megahed's father asks the FBI to "keep his son safe" because "he's innocent."

Aug. 11: The FBI searches a home in Temple Terrace where Mohamed was attempting to rent a room. Some of his belongings are in the garage.

Aug. 15: Andrew Savage, attorney for Megahed and temporary counsel for Mohamed, asks that all evidence in the case, which might otherwise be destroyed, be preserved.

Aug. 22: A preliminary hearing for Megahed and Mohamed is set for Sept. 21.

Aug. 29: A federal grand jury in Tampa asks for DNA and hair samples from Megahed and questions at least three people.

Aug. 31: Megahed and Mohamed are indicted on a charge of transporting an explosive device. Mohamed also is charged with teaching and demonstrating the uses of an explosive device.

Tribune research by Michael Messano; Source: Tribune archives

Youssef Megahed

Age: 21

USF Years Attended: Since 2004. No major, but has taken engineering classes

Native Of: Egypt

Employment: Worked at mental health clinic

Residency status: Permanent U.S. resident, not a U.S. citizen

Time in United States: 10 years, five in Tampa

Federal charges: Transporting explosives

Ahmed Mohamed

Age: 24

USF Years Attended: Graduate student since January, civil engineering

Native Of: Kuwait

Employment: Teacher's assistant and research assistant at USF

Residency status: Student visa, citizen of Egypt

Time in United States: Unknown

Federal charges: Helping terrorists by aiding, teaching and demonstrating the use of an explosive device; transporting explosives

Tribune research by Michael Messano: Source: Tribune archives