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Feds end legal pursuit of Youssef Megahed

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Youssef Megahed is now free to live in the United States and pursue his American citizenship.

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By ELAINE SILVESTRINI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 5, 2009

Updated: 11/05/2009 05:37 pm

TAMPA - More than two years after he was arrested – and after two courts have since ruled in his favor – the federal government has dropped its legal pursuit of Youssef Megahed.

The Department of Homeland Security said today that it will not appeal an immigration judge's decision not to deport Megahed. The judge ruled in August that the government failed to prove the University of South Florida student is a terrorist.

"After carefully reviewing and evaluating the decision made by an immigration judge to terminate Megahed's removal proceedings, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has decided to not appeal the judge's decision," spokeswoman Nicole Navas said in an e-mail. "The ICE case is closed."

Megahed, 23, is now free to live in the United States and pursue his American citizenship, like the rest of his family.

Samir Megahed said in an e-mail that an immigration officer asked him to bring his son into the office today in order to remove his electronic ankle monitor.

Youssef Meghahed said he wasn't sure whether to celebrate after the monitor was removed because he wasn't given any paperwork confirming there would be no appeal.

He has had his celebrations cut short once before. Three days after he was acquitted of criminal charges in April, ICE agents arrested him in a Walmart parking lot.

"We're not sure what's going to happen next with the government," he said.

The government's decision came just days before a deadline to appeal Judge Kenneth Hurewitz's opinion that an extensive FBI investigation failed to turn up evidence that Megahed was likely to engage in terrorism.

Megahed's immigration attorney was elated.

"I am proud the government has made the correct decision here," Charles Kuck said in an e-mail. "There is no case to appeal, as there was no evidence that Youssef had ever committed the acts of which the government accused him. This time, justice has prevailed."

Kuck said he will ask the government to grant his client an immediate citizenship interview – Megahed filed his citizenship application two weeks before his arrest in 2007. Kuck expects he will have to ask a federal judge to order immigration officials to act on the application.

Megahed and his friend Ahmed Mohamed were arrested in August 2007 after a traffic stop in South Carolina. Deputies said they found what they believed to be pipe bombs in the trunk of Mohamed's car.

The FBI later determined the items were not pipe bombs, but rather PVC pipes holding a "low explosives" mix of potassium nitrate and sugar.

Megahed and Mohamed were USF students at the time of their arrest. Both are from Egypt, although Megahed has lived in the United States since he was a child and is a permanent resident.

Mohamed pleaded guilty to helping terrorists by posting a video on YouTube in which he showed how to use the remote control of a toy to detonate a bomb. He is serving 15 years in federal prison.

Authorities never presented proof that Megahed knew about the video.

Instead, they put him on trial on explosives charges in connection with the items found in the car trunk.

Megahed's attorneys argued during the criminal trial that the items were harmless toy rockets made by Mohamed and placed in the trunk without Megahed's knowledge.

The prosecution maintained the items could have been modified to become destructive.

A federal jury disagreed, acquitting Megahed.

During the deportation hearing in August, the government argued that Megahed was a terrorist facilitator who was enabling his friends to prepare for an attack. An FBI agent labeled the group a terrorist cell.

But Hurewitz ruled that the government had not proved its assertions: "In spite of the scale of this investigation, the FBI did not uncover any evidence whatsoever linking (Megahed) with a particular plot, plan or intention to commit a terrorist act."

Megahed was released after Hurewitz issued his verbal ruling. Although government attorneys did not oppose his release, they requested he be placed on electronic monitoring pending a possible appeal.

Megahed has returned to USF to complete his engineering degree. He hopes to graduate next month.

Reporter Elaine Silvestrini can be reached at (813) 259-7837.

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