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Mohamed's Plea Leaves Questions

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By ELAINE SILVESTRINI

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 19, 2008

TAMPA - A former University of South Florida student admitted in federal court Wednesday morning that he helped terrorists by making an Internet video showing how to use a remote-controlled toy car to detonate a bomb.

The guilty plea by Ahmed Mohamed, however, left open the question of exactly what he and his friend Youssef Megahed were doing when arrested last year in South Carolina with what prosecutors say were explosive materials and defense advocates maintain were homemade fireworks or "sugar rockets."

Mohamed, 26, an Egyptian citizen whose defense is being paid by his home country's government, pleaded guilty to providing material support to terrorists, a charge that carries up to 15 years in federal prison. He is expected to be sentenced in early September.

After he pleaded guilty to trying to help terrorists, however, his attorneys told reporters that the South Carolina journey was an innocent road trip.

Asked what Mohamed was doing in South Carolina, defense attorney Lyann Goudie said, "He was going to the beach to celebrate his birthday and shoot off sugar rockets." The two were arrested the day before Mohamed's Aug. 5 birthday.

The toy car video, which was posted on the Web site YouTube, was found on Mohamed's laptop computer inside the students' car in South Carolina. The prosecution says the computer also contained a video showing the firing of Qassam rockets in the Middle East, which they allege Megahed was viewing just before their car was stopped by sheriff's deputies.
Defense attorneys said Mohamed's plea agreement does not require him to give testimony against Megahed because there is nothing incriminating Mohamed could tell authorities about his friend.

As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors have agreed to dismiss all other charges against Mohamed, including those relating to the South Carolina trip and the purported explosives.

Megahed, who was not accused of making any videos, still faces a trial on charges of illegally transporting explosives.

Megahed's attorney, public defender Adam Allen, attended Mohamed's plea hearing and told reporters afterward: "We want to have a trial and intend to have a trial unless the government dismisses the charges. We don't believe we're guilty of anything."

Appeal Ruling Pending

The trial is on hold pending an appeal by prosecutors of a ruling by U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday, who is preventing the government from using certain evidence seized from the Megahed family's home computer, including 36 files prosecutors described in court papers as containing "images of a number of improvised explosive device attacks against military forces in the Middle East. One such video shows the explosion of a military vehicle and then depicts the damaged parts of that vehicle strewn across the roadside. Close-up shots depict parts of what appears to be the military vehicle, with English writing on it and information printed on the damaged pieces to reflect their manufacture in the United States."

Other videos show "the firing of Qassam-style rockets in what appears to be the Middle East, with audio and written text that extols their use," according to the prosecution.

Prosecutors say that even though the computer was available to other family members, they have circumstantial evidence suggesting Megahed viewed at least some of the files. Merryday ruled that prosecutors could not use the evidence because it was given to the defense after a court-imposed deadline for sharing evidence.

'Theses Guys Were Wannabes'

One terrorism expert said he thinks the two students aspired to be terrorists but did not yet pose a serious danger.

Larry Johnson, a security consultant working with U.S. military on counterterrorism matters and a former official with the CIA and State Department, said it is a mistake to think Mohamed and Megahed were part of a terrorist organization or a sleeper cell. "These guys were wannabes," he said. "They were not part of some elaborate international network."

They more likely were part of a "spontaneous generation of jihadists," Johnson said. They were "angry, motivated, but they're not terribly competent and they don't have much of a plan, more like someone drunk in a bar and lashing out. They end up falling on the floor and knocking themselves out."

Johnson was skeptical of the claim that Megahed was an innocent party. "I think it's a good cover story," he said. "Deny, deny, deny."

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

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