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Ex-Student In Explosives Case Hires Al-Arian, Snipes Lawyer

Associated Press photo by Chris O'Meara

Linda Moreno, attorney for a former University of South Florida student charged with trying to help terrorists, held up a copy of the U.S. Constitution after her former client, Sami Al-Arian. was acquitted on several charges and a jury deadlocked on others in December 2005.

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By ELAINE SILVESTRINI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 7, 2008

TAMPA – A lawyer who represented Sami Al-Arian and Wesley Snipes notified the court this morning she will defend a former University of South Florida student accused of trying to help terrorists.

Linda Moreno, half of the team that defended Al-Arian on terrorism-related charges, will team up with defense lawyer Lyann Goudie to represent Ahmed Mohamed, a 26-year-old Egyptian national who was arrested in South Carolina along with Youssef Megahed in August. Deputies said they found pipe bombs in the trunk of their car.

The actual explosive power of the items in the trunk has been questioned, with Megahed's attorney arguing in court papers that FBI lab tests demonstrate that the content of the PVC pipes was nothing more than fireworks.

The government still maintains that the items had the potential to be dangerous explosives.

Authorities also have charged Mohamed with trying to help terrorists by posting on the Internet a video in which he shows how to use a remote-controlled toy to detonate a bomb.

Also this morning, Mohamed's court-appointed attorney, Bruce Howie, filed a motion seeking to suppress evidence gained in the search of the car in South Carolina. The motion uses arguments similar to those in a motion filed earlier by Megahed's attorney accusing the deputies who pulled the two students over of making inappropriate remarks during the stop.

Describing the video of the stop, the motion alleges that the deputy who radioed in the stop "noted to another officer in reference to the defendants that 'both are sitting, holding Korans in their lap while driving,' that they are 'damn Taliban,' and that 'they're acting weird as crap.' "

Seconds later, the motion states, the deputy said to another law enforcement officer, "I've got Taliban, bro," and "they've got a bomb strapped to them."

Another officer was quoted as saying, "Maybe they're going to practice a suicide bombing here."

The motion alleges the subsequent search of the car was illegal because it was conducted without a warrant and without an emergency or valid consent by the defendant. According to the court filing, Mohamed was asked whether the vehicle could be searched, and he shrugged and said, "If you must."

Until recently, Mohamed was represented by John Fitzgibbons. Their attorney-client relationship disintegrated in a publicly aired battle, and Fitzgibbons left the case. Fitzgibbons is known for defending former "American Idol" contestant Jessica Sierra, who is in rehab after a recent alcohol-related run-in with police, and Debra Lafave, who was convicted of having sexual relations with one of her students.

Moreno most recently was part of actor Wesley Snipes' defense team during his federal tax fraud trial in Ocala. Snipes was acquitted of the more serious charges and convicted of misdemeanor counts.

Moreno is carving out a specialty representing defendants charged with terrorism, and she repeatedly has managed to stymie federal prosecutors.

Moreno also was a defense lawyer in a nationally known trial of officials with the Holy Land Foundation in Texas, an organization authorities said financed terrorists. That case ended in October with a mistrial after jurors deadlocked on nearly all counts.

The trial of former USF Professor Al-Arian likewise ended in a mistrial when jurors acquitted him on eight charges and deadlocked on nine others. He eventually pleaded guilty to a single count of trying to help terrorists.

Moreno also was an attorney in the case of seven indigent Miami men charged with plotting to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago as part of an Islamic jihad. One of those men was acquitted in December, and a mistrial was declared in the prosecution of the six others after the jury said it was hopelessly deadlocked.

Goudie accompanied the leader of a local Muslim civil rights organization when he appeared before a grand jury investigating the case against Mohamed and Megahed. She represented Ahmed Bedier, executive director of the Tampa chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

She currently represents a defendant in the massive case against accused members of the Latin Kings street gang.

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

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