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USF Students Rushed Into Court, Sent Back To Tampa

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By ANTHONY McCARTNEY, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 7, 2007

Youssef Megahed / Ahmed Mohamed

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CHARLESTON, S.C. - They may have been dressed like they were headed for the beach, but Youssef Megahed and Ahmed Mohamed's brief courtroom appearance Thursday signaled a new phase in their legal troubles.

Less than 10 hours after their first hearing in a downtown Charleston court, the University of South Florida students were back in Tampa, having traded their mismatched clothes for jumpsuits at Orient Road Jail.

The pair face charges they were transporting explosives while traveling through South Carolina in early August.

Their return was met with relief by Megahed's father, Samir.

'I feel good because he is home, because Florida is our home,' he said Thursday evening. 'I can breathe easy. He is breathing the same air that's in my chest.'

Earlier in the day, South Carolina prosecutors dropped state explosives charges that were being used to hold the men while a federal grand jury in Tampa pondered an indictment issued Aug. 31.

Shortly before noon, Megahed, 21, and Mohamed, whose age has been listed as between 24 and 26, appeared before a federal magistrate in Charleston.

Megahed wore a pair of gym pants, T-shirt and sandals that were different sizes. Mohamed was shoeless, appearing in socks, and the swim trunks and dirty T-shirt he was arrested in, his attorney said.

The students had spent a month in a rural county jail before being whisked to downtown Charleston on Thursday morning for the hearing that their attorneys - or prosecutors for that matter - didn't know was coming.

The proceedings were brief, procedural and barely announced. A prosecutor dashed to the courtroom after receiving only a few minutes' notice about the hearing, and a defense attorney said he didn't know Megahed and Mohamed had been moved until one of his aides planned to visit them.

The students said little during the hearing, offering one-word answers to questions posed by U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert Carr, said lawyer Andy Savage, who is representing Megahed.

Back in Tampa, the men will have to wait for a hearing to proclaim their innocence. Mohamed faces the most serious charges, with federal authorities accusing him of trying to help terrorists by teaching and demonstrating the use of an explosive device.

The Egyptian-born students have told family and attorneys that they were on their way to a North Carolina beach and that they ended up in Goose Creek, S.C. - near a naval weapons station with bullets and what authorities call pipe bombs - because they were looking for cheap gas.

The dismissal of the state charges cleared the way for Megahed and Mohamed to be handed over to federal authorities Thursday morning. Their problems are far from over - Megahed faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted; Mohamed could be sentenced to up to 30 years.

The men have received the backing of the Egyptian Embassy in Washington, which sent a representative to Moncks Corner to meet with the students Wednesday.

Savage said the embassy representative was upset that U.S. officials have not been more forthcoming about the cases and being denied the opportunity to speak with the students by phone.

The four-hour meeting seemed to bring some relief to the men, said Savage, who attended but could not characterize much of the discussions because they were in Arabic.

The men seemed even more relieved to learn Thursday that they were returning to Tampa, said Lionel Lofton, who is representing Mohamed.

'He was ready to go back to Tampa,' Lofton said.

Savage said it will be easier to defend the pair in Tampa because witnesses and family members will be closer.

That will become important because U.S. attorneys will ask that the men be held without bail, Savage said. A hearing will be held in Tampa in which a judge will decide whether the men can be released.

Savage said Megahed's family and friends likely will be called during that hearing to testify about his 'reputation for peace.'

Samir Megahed said Thursday night he hopes it also means more visits with his son. 'For sure, it will be much better to meet him - if allowed - every day.'

It remains unclear whether Lofton or Savage, both prominent Charleston litigators, will continue to represent the students. That decision will be made by the Egyptian embassy, both lawyers said.

Little is known about Mohamed, who is in the United States on a student visa. According to Savage, his father, Abdellatif Mohamed, is a civil engineer employed by the Egyptian government.

Lofton said that despite earlier reports, embassy officials told him this week that Mohamed had never been arrested in Egypt.

'He was a well-respected teacher,' Lofton said. 'He has an unblemished record.'

If he had been arrested, Lofton said, 'He would never have even been able to travel to the U.S.'

USF officials have made similar statements, saying Mohamed had to be cleared by Homeland Security officials before entering the United States. Appearing before U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff declined to discuss the government's case or his agency's review of Mohamed's background.

Mohamed's father, reached in Egypt, remains confident that his son will be cleared. 'Of course he is innocent. You can ask anyone in the States. He is a good kid.'

Savage expressed doubts about the government's case. He said there were bullets in the car the students were driving, but no gun. The bullets were .22-caliber 'short' rounds, he said. Any explosives in the car were in very small quantities, he said.

Editor Howard Altman and reporter Chris Echegaray contributed to this report. Reporter Anthony McCartney can be reached at (813) 259-7616 or amccartney@tampatrib.com.

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