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Megahed readmitted to USF

Associated Press file photo

"I am very excited to be back and continue with my normal life and go back to school," says Youssef Megahed.

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By JOSÉ PATIÑO GIRONA | The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 26, 2009

TAMPA - Youssef Megahed is still waiting for the U.S. government to decide whether it will continue trying to deport him as a terrorist. He has to wear an ankle bracelet. He can't legally leave Florida right now.

On the plus side, he did get back into the University of South Florida.

"I was hopeful," Megahed said. "There was no reason not to let me back in."

Megahed said Wednesday that he has been allowed back into USF, where he was a student when he and a fellow student were arrested in August 2007 after a traffic stop in South Carolina.

Authorities found in the car trunk what they said were explosives, beginning a two-year odyssey that eventually resulted in Megahed's acquittal on terrorism charges and, just last week, a ruling against the government's efforts to deport him.

Megahed had to reapply to USF because he was no longer considered a student after he missed nine months of classes while in jail. The fall semester began Monday; he said USF officials told him Tuesday he would be readmitted and he began classes Wednesday. He only needs one class to complete his engineering degree, he said.

"I am very excited to be back and continue with my normal life and go back to school," said Megahed, 23.

He said the first day of class was good and "natural." He hopes to earn an A, he said.

He might get that degree while wearing a GPS monitoring bracelet. While the government tries to decide whether to appeal the judge's decision that Megahed should not be deported, he has to wear the ankle bracelet and is prohibited from leaving the state.

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