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Judge Considers Bail For Jailed USF Student

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By ELAINE SILVESTRINI, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 6, 2007

TAMPA - While Yahia Megahed waited to see his brother at a Hillsborough County jail, he looked into a camera used for jail visits and made some silly faces, moving his eyebrows and pursing his lips.

Then he looked around and started making gestures with his left hand, stopping when someone walked nearby, pretending to scratch his head.

To federal prosecutors, this display Sept. 14 was something sinister. They saw it as some kind of coded communications. They don't want to make public exactly what they think the communications were.

To an attorney for Youssef Megahed's brother, it was just goofy. Yahia Megahed could see his own picture on a monitor. His brother wasn't even on the other side of the camera yet. Yahia was just killing time, aping for the camera, while he waited to find out about a visit. He stopped when people walked by because he didn't want to be seen being dopey, the attorney said.

As with many other aspects of the explosives charge against two University of South Florida students, that video can be viewed through different prisms, leading to two very different conclusions.

The video was played in federal court Friday as U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday struggled with the question of whether Youssef Megahed should be released on bail.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Hoffer argues that Megahed, an Egyptian citizen, is a danger to the community and poses a risk of flight.
Public defender Adam Allen says his client has led a law-abiding life. Three credits away from his college degree, he comes from a close-knit family that is willing to risk everything for him.

Merryday, who reserved his decision on the bail matter, asked Allen, 'What level of risk should I run on behalf of the community to vindicate his liberty interests on behalf of himself?'

The law, Allen said, requires that the judge take measures that 'reasonably assure' the defendant won't pose a risk to the community.

'What's reasonable?' the judge asked.

Megahed and fellow student Ahmed Mohamed were arrested Aug. 4 in South Carolina after deputies, authorities say, found explosives in the trunk of the car in which the students were riding.

Mohamed, 26, who is in the United States on a student visa, has waived his right to a bail hearing and is being held without bail. Mohamed is also accused of trying to help terrorists by teaching or demonstrating the use of explosives by posting a video on the Web site YouTube about how to turn a remote-controlled toy into a bomb detonator.

Megahed, 21, a legal permanent resident of the United States, has been in the country since he was a young child. He faces only a transporting explosives charge, which carries a maximum of 10 years in prison, but likely far less under federal sentencing guidelines.

Both men also are being held on immigration detainers, meaning if they posted bail, they would still be held unless an immigration judge removed the holds or the government lifted them.
Hoffer told Merryday there's a good chance the detainer will be lifted, at least for Megahed because there are no grounds to conclude that he is in this country illegally.

In presenting his case to keep Megahed behind bars, Hoffer said agents have found a witness who saw the two Megahed brothers and Mohamed together before Aug. 4 making anti-American statements. Hoffer didn't give any more information about those statements.

For nearly every other piece of presumed evidence described by Hoffer during Friday's bail hearing, Allen had an innocent explanation.

For example, Hoffer said Megahed and Mohamed made two stops at Wal-Mart stores on their way to South Carolina. While there, Megahed inquired about, but didn't purchase, high-powered rifles. He did purchase a cleaning kit for a .30-caliber weapon, even though the only documented gun Megahed owned was a .22.

Allen said Megahed is interested in guns, and that a lot of people are interested in guns. Allen pointed out that guns are not illegal. He also said his client may have just mistakenly purchased the wrong cleaning kit.
Hoffer said Megahed and his brother went to Sears and had passport photos taken in July, even though both men already have passports. Allen said the photos were needed because the family was applying for citizenship and the pictures are part of the application.

Keyword: Explosives, for more information about Yahia and Youssef Megahed and the case.

Reporter Elaine Silvestrini can be reached at (813) 259-7837 or esilvestrini@tampatrib.com. Reporter Elaine Silvestrini can be reached at (813) 259-7837 or esilvestrini@tampatrib.com.

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