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Author Topic: Bombs found in car in S.C.-2007  (Read 4705 times)
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SuzieQ
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Justice for Natalee


« on: August 07, 2007, 12:37:18 PM »

Two Men Allegedly Had Bombs Near Base
By BRUCE SMITH,AP
Posted: 2007-08-07 02:28:13
Filed Under: Crime News, Nation News
MONCKS CORNER, S.C. (Aug. 7) - Two men found with several pipe bombs in their car near a Navy base were charged Monday with possession of an explosive device, authorities said.

A joint state-federal investigation was under way to see whether there was any terrorism connection, said FBI spokeswoman Denise Taiste, but no link had been found. The Navy base is the site of a brig where enemy combatants have been held.

Ahmed Abda Sherf Mohamed, 24, and Yousef Samir Megahed, 21, both students at the University of South Florida in Tampa, were driving through the area on Saturday to vacation at a North Carolina beach for Mohamed's birthday, their defense attorney said.

"They admitted to having what they said were fireworks. Based on the officer's judgment at hand, based on what he had seen, we judged it to be other than fireworks," Berkeley County Sheriff Wayne DeWitt said.

Mohamed, 24, said he made devices from items he bought at Wal-Mart, according to an affidavit with his arrest warrant.

Defense attorney Dennis Rhoad said the men have a reason for having the devices and it would become clear in later court hearings.

"The defendants deny the allegations the state and the sheriff have made against them," Rhoad said.

Prosecutor Scarlett Wilson asked for high bond, which was set at $500,000 for Mohamed and $300,000 for Megahed, because she said the men were dangerous and a risk to flee.

Mohamed is a native of Kuwait and Megahed is Egyptian, the sheriff said. Both are in the country legally.

The executive director of a civil rights organization for Muslims in Tampa criticized the arrest as racial profiling, an accusation South Carolina police denied. It's not clear if the item found in the vehicle is actually a bomb, said Ahmed Bedier of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

"If it's clearly a pipe bomb that's a different story. Then there is cause for concern," said Bedier.

Megahed lives with his family and they voluntarily allowed the FBI to search their home in Tampa on Monday, Bedier said.

"They're so confident that they don't have anything in their home that they gave the keys to some agents. The father voluntarily allowed them to go search the home unsupervised," Bedier said.

The two men were stopped for speeding Saturday night on U.S. Highway 176 near Goose Creek, which is the site of the Naval Weapons Station and houses the U.S. Naval Consolidated Brig, a military prison where enemy combatants have been held.

They were heading west, away from Goose Creek, when they were pulled over about seven miles from the sprawling Navy facility, police said.

Officers became suspicious because the men quickly put away a laptop computer and couldn't immediately say what they were doing in the area or where they were going, DeWitt said.

A deputy then found what he thought were explosives in the 2000 Toyota Camry and called the bomb squad. Technicians confirmed the devices were pipe bombs and destroyed them, according to sworn statements in the arrest warrants.

Authorities closed a mile-long stretch of the highway Saturday night and didn't reopen it until about 4 a.m. Sunday.

University spokesman Ken Gullette said Mohamed is a civil engineering graduate student who came to the school in January. He earned his undergraduate degree in Cairo and was in the country on a student visa.

Megahed, who has permanent resident status in the United States, is an undergraduate and has been at the university since 2004, but has not declared a major, Gullette said.

Neither has ever been arrested by campus police or disciplined by the university, Gullette said. Both were enrolled in classes this summer. Gullette said the university is cooperating with authorities.

If convicted of the felony charge, the men would face from two to 15 years in prison.

Goose Creek, with a population of about 30,000, is about 20 miles north of Charleston.

Edit: Add year to subject title
« Last Edit: August 01, 2009, 08:22:02 PM by MuffyBee » Logged

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FoolsGold
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« Reply #1 on: August 07, 2007, 03:11:58 PM »

When detonated, bystanders described the sound as 'that of a fire cracker' which would seem to indicate that if properly described as a bomb, it was a pretty wimpy one!
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« Reply #2 on: August 07, 2007, 07:37:32 PM »

I also agree with Red's front page post on this subject... they will be screaming racism and profiling before long.

I am glad, regardless they were caught... it should be an interesting case to follow.
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« Reply #3 on: August 24, 2007, 12:16:33 PM »

Two Men Allegedly Had Bombs Near Base
By BRUCE SMITH,AP
Posted: 2007-08-07 02:28:13
Filed Under: Crime News, Nation News
MONCKS CORNER, S.C. (Aug. 7) - Two men found with several pipe bombs in their car near a Navy base were charged Monday with possession of an explosive device, authorities said.

A joint state-federal investigation was under way to see whether there was any terrorism connection, said FBI spokeswoman Denise Taiste, but no link had been found. The Navy base is the site of a brig where enemy combatants have been held.

Ahmed Abda Sherf Mohamed, 24, and Yousef Samir Megahed, 21, both students at the University of South Florida in Tampa, were driving through the area on Saturday to vacation at a North Carolina beach for Mohamed's birthday, their defense attorney said.

"They admitted to having what they said were fireworks. Based on the officer's judgment at hand, based on what he had seen, we judged it to be other than fireworks," Berkeley County Sheriff Wayne DeWitt said.

Mohamed, 24, said he made devices from items he bought at Wal-Mart, according to an affidavit with his arrest warrant.

Defense attorney Dennis Rhoad said the men have a reason for having the devices and it would become clear in later court hearings.

"The defendants deny the allegations the state and the sheriff have made against them," Rhoad said.

Prosecutor Scarlett Wilson asked for high bond, which was set at $500,000 for Mohamed and $300,000 for Megahed, because she said the men were dangerous and a risk to flee.

Mohamed is a native of Kuwait and Megahed is Egyptian, the sheriff said. Both are in the country legally.

The executive director of a civil rights organization for Muslims in Tampa criticized the arrest as racial profiling, an accusation South Carolina police denied. It's not clear if the item found in the vehicle is actually a bomb, said Ahmed Bedier of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

"If it's clearly a pipe bomb that's a different story. Then there is cause for concern," said Bedier.

Megahed lives with his family and they voluntarily allowed the FBI to search their home in Tampa on Monday, Bedier said.

"They're so confident that they don't have anything in their home that they gave the keys to some agents. The father voluntarily allowed them to go search the home unsupervised," Bedier said.

The two men were stopped for speeding Saturday night on U.S. Highway 176 near Goose Creek, which is the site of the Naval Weapons Station and houses the U.S. Naval Consolidated Brig, a military prison where enemy combatants have been held.

They were heading west, away from Goose Creek, when they were pulled over about seven miles from the sprawling Navy facility, police said.

Officers became suspicious because the men quickly put away a laptop computer and couldn't immediately say what they were doing in the area or where they were going, DeWitt said.

A deputy then found what he thought were explosives in the 2000 Toyota Camry and called the bomb squad. Technicians confirmed the devices were pipe bombs and destroyed them, according to sworn statements in the arrest warrants.

Authorities closed a mile-long stretch of the highway Saturday night and didn't reopen it until about 4 a.m. Sunday.

University spokesman Ken Gullette said Mohamed is a civil engineering graduate student who came to the school in January. He earned his undergraduate degree in Cairo and was in the country on a student visa.

Megahed, who has permanent resident status in the United States, is an undergraduate and has been at the university since 2004, but has not declared a major, Gullette said.

Neither has ever been arrested by campus police or disciplined by the university, Gullette said. Both were enrolled in classes this summer. Gullette said the university is cooperating with authorities.

If convicted of the felony charge, the men would face from two to 15 years in prison.

Goose Creek, with a population of about 30,000, is about 20 miles north of Charleston.



Send them to GITMO to git mo info.         jack b
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MuffyBee
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« Reply #4 on: August 31, 2007, 03:36:45 PM »

Yes, these two had "fireworks" alright.    

South Florida Students Face Indictment for Carrying Explosives Across State Lines

*snipped*
"Both Mohamed and Megahed are in the county legally on student visas, officials said."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,295434,00.html

These guys are here on student visas?!  They need to go to prison with hard labor.  Then pack their butts on out of here.  Don't deport them until they serve jail sentence, because they might just go free once back in their own country.  (and somehow end up back over here Shocked)
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« Reply #5 on: August 01, 2009, 08:05:38 PM »

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-09-04-explosives-arrest-terrorism_N.htm
S.C. defers to feds in pipe bomb case
Posted 9/4/2007 2:49 P

Youssef Samir Megahed, 21, stands as co-defendent Ahmed Abdellatif Sherif Mohamed, 24, looks on during a bond hearing Aug. 6, at the Berkeley County Court House in Moncks Corner, S.C. The two Egyptian students were indicted Aug. 31., on charges of carrying explosive materials across states lines.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — With a federal indictment in place, state charges will be dismissed against two Egyptian-born students who were stopped last month with what authorities said were pipe bombs, a prosecutor said Tuesday.

"I plan to dismiss the charges in favor of federal prosecution," said Scarlett Wilson, state prosecutor for Charleston and Berkeley counties.
Ahmed Abda Sherf Mohamed, 24, and Yousef Samir Megahed, 21, both students at the University of South Florida in Tampa, were arrested on state charges of possession of an explosive device following an Aug. 5 traffic stop in Goose Creek.

The men told police they had fireworks in the car and were driving through the area to vacation at a North Carolina beach, authorities said. But Wilson said at an arraignment that the devices were pipe bombs
Last week, the students were indicted on federal charges of carrying explosive materials across state lines. Mohammed also faces terrorism-related charges for allegedly demonstrating how to use the explosives.

The two are expected to make an initial appearance in federal court in Charleston as early as this week. Wilson said the state charges will be dismissed once plans to move the men to federal custody have been worked out.
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« Reply #6 on: August 01, 2009, 08:07:21 PM »

http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=5193198&page=1

Egyptian Student in U.S. Pleads Guilty in Fla. Terrorism Case
DOJ Announces Guilty Plea in Case of University of South Florida Students

By JASON RYAN
June 18, 2008
Former University of South Florida student Ahmed Mohamed, who admitted producing a video for YouTube about making a remote-controlled car bomb, formally pleaded guilty today to a charge of providing material support to terrorists.

Mohamed, 26, an Egyptian citizen who was studying for a graduate degree in engineering, was stopped by police in South Carolina last August in a routine traffic stop.

The case is being touted as an example of the federal government's ongoing efforts since 9/11 to get local police to help them locate and prosecute terrorism suspects.
According to the plea agreement's statement of facts, a sheriff's deputy with the Berkeley County Sherriff's Office in South Carolina became suspicious when Mohamed and his companion, fellow USF student Youisef Meghded, did not initially stop when they were pulled over for speeding. The officer said he saw Megahed disconnect a power cord from a laptop computer as he approached the car.

The deputy searched the vehicle. According to court records, he found safety fuses, several sections of cut PVC piping containing a potassium nitrate explosive mixture and containers filled with gasoline. The pair was arrested that night for transporting explosives.

Following the arrest, the FBI in Tampa and South Carolina began an investigation with the the Joint Terrorism Task Force.

Later, after examining the computer in the car that night, authorities discovered the bomb-making video, which led to the terrorism charges.

The plea deal states that "Subsequent FBI analysis of defendant Mohamed's laptop computer disclosed a large number of file folders containing information relating to the manufacture and use of bombs, rockets and other explosives, including several video recordings showing the use of such devices to attack and destroy manned military vehicles."

In a superseding indictment, Mohamed later was charged with providing material support to terrorists and several other charges that could have put him in prison for life.

But under today's plea agreement, prosecutors dropped all the other charges in exchange for a guilty plea on a single count of providing material support. Mohamed faces a maximum of 15 years in jail and a $250,000 fine.
According to the guilty plea, Mohamed placed a video on YouTube with the user name "Michaljebral" where he demonstrated how to use a remote control car as the detonator for an explosive device, saying "We can make an explosion from a distance. Instead of brethren going to, to carry out martyrdom operations," Mohamed said in the video.


In the plea agreement, Mohamed admitted "that his purpose in producing the audio/video recording was to teach 'martyrdoms' and 'suiciders' how to save themselves so they could continue to fight the invaders. He said he considered the U.S. military and those fighting with the United States military in Arab countries to be invaders."

Megahed, 21, who was not part of this plea deal, is expected to face trial on the explosives charges later this year. A third man who was arrested on federal firearms charges in the case, Karim Moussaoui, was convicted on April 3. Moussaoui was a non-resident alien and was not permitted under federal law to possess firearms.
« Last Edit: August 01, 2009, 08:09:22 PM by MuffyBee » Logged

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« Reply #7 on: August 01, 2009, 08:14:50 PM »

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=7252937

Egyptian Student Found Not Guilty of Bomb Charges
Egyptian college student found not guilty of federal explosives charges in Tampa

By CHRISTINE ARMARIO Associated Press Writer
TAMPA, Fla. April 3, 2009 (AP)
In an emotional conclusion to a federal trial, an Egyptian student was found not guilty on charges of carrying explosives that prosecutors said could have been used to build a dangerous rocket.

Youssef Samir Megahed's family teared up as the jury read its verdict Friday afternoon, finding him not guilty of carrying explosives across state lines and possessing a destructive device.

Prosecutors said deputies found PVC pipes, fuses, and other materials that could have been combined with gasoline to build a destructive device when the former University of South Florida student and a friend were pulled over in South Carolina in August 2007. The attorney for Megahed (pronounced MEG-uh-hed) had argued that the items were no more harmful than a road flare, and that his friend, Ahmed Mohamed, put the items in the car trunk without Megahed's knowledge.

The case was filled with terrorist overtones, and came nearly four months after Mohamed was sentenced to 15 years in prison for making a YouTube video showing would-be terrorists how to turn a remote-control toy into a bomb detonator. The 12-minute clip was found on a laptop computer inside the men's car.

Megahed wasn't charged in connection with the video.

The 12-member jury deliberated for about 22 hours over four days before reaching their verdict. As U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday read the not guilty finding, Megahed's family watched with tears and joy.

"We feel comfort and happiness for our son that we win this case," Samir Megahed, the young man's father, said.

Defense attorney Adam Allen said the case shows that the justice system works.

During the trial, Allen told jurors Megahed, 23, and his friend were on "an innocent weekend college road trip" to see East Coast beaches when they were arrested near Charleston, S.C. But prosecutor Jay Hoffer said that what deputies found in the trunk of the men's borrowed Toyota Camry made them "jump back in fear" — four sections of PVC pipe containing a mixture of sugar, potassium nitrate, cat litter, plus fuses. He described the items as "low explosives" that were illegal to carry across state lines and could have been combined with gasoline to create a destructive device.
Hoffer said the men spoke to each other in Arabic after they were stopped, "getting their stories straight."

Deputies also found a laptop computer with a video Mohamed had produced and posted on the YouTube Web site. Mohamed narrated the video in Arabic, saying he wanted to teach "martyrdoms" and "suiciders" how to save themselves so they can continue to fight invaders, including U.S. soldiers.

The video was not shown to jurors in Megahed's trial. Allen has said Megahed had no knowledge of the video. A Tampa federal judge deemed it irrelevant to the case, and a U.S. appeals court upheld his ruling.

Allen sought to distance his client from Mohamed, a University of South Florida graduate student whom he had known for less than a year. He called the PVC pipe sections "model rocket motors" assembled with common household items by Megahed's friend, and put into the car trunk without Megahed's knowledge.

Ramzy Killic, director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations' Tampa Chapter, sat with Megahed's family in the courtroom as they awaited the verdict on Friday. He said he was not surprised by their finding.

"I was confident from the beginning the jury would choose fact over fear," he said.

Megahed, dressed in a white shirt and yellow tie, said that upon hearing the verdict, "I felt happy."

Before leaving the courtroom, prosecutor Robert Monk told reporters, "We respect the jury's verdict when we prevail in a case, and we respect a jury's verdict when we do not prevail in a case."

Megahed said he plans to go back to the University of South Florida to finish his engineering degree. He was one course shy of graduation at the time of his arrest. And then? "Get a job," he said.

The family said they plan to pray at their mosque tonight.

Then, Samir Megahed said, "We are going to spend the next week in the beach."
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« Reply #8 on: August 01, 2009, 08:18:46 PM »

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/06/06/eveningnews/main5068540.shtml
AMPA, June 6, 2009
Double Jeopardy In A Terrorism Case?
A Florida Family Says Their Son Who Was Acquitted Of Terrorism Is Being Tried Again


Youseef Megahed, whose family says is the victim of double jeopardy in a deportation case
   
By Kelly Cobiella
(CBS)  When the Megahead family gets together these days, one member is missing.

"This experience has been very very bad for my son," said Samir Megahed.

His son is Youssef Megahed, a 23-year-old college student and permanent legal U.S. resident, is in immigration custody, facing deportation to Egypt, a country he hasn't lived in since he was 11 years old.

CBS News correspondent Kelly Cobiella talked with Megahead when he called from a central Florida detention center while Cobiella was visiting with his family.

"Are you worried at all?" Cobiella asked.

"No," Megahed said.

"No?" Cobiella asked.

"I have no worries," Megahed said.

"So you are confident?" Cobiella asked.

"Yes," Megahead said.

Confident because he's been in a courtroom before. In August of 2007, Megahed and another college student were stopped while on their way to South Carolina. Police found explosives in the trunk. Both men were arrested and charged with terrorist related activity. The driver, Ahmed Mohamed, pled guilty to providing support to terrorist after authorities found a YouTube video showing him building remote control bombs. Mohamed was sentenced to 15 years.

"Did your son share those ideas?" Cobiella asked Samir Megahed.

"How many times you take a friend for you to the beach, did you know what was in the heart of your friend?" Samir Megahed asked.

Youssef Megahed, charged with two counts of terrorist activity went on trial earlier this year. In April, a federal jury found Megahed not guilty, finding the explosives on were on par with fireworks.

"We respect the jury verdict when we win, and we respect the jury's decision when we lose," said U.S. Attorney Jay Hoffer in April.

Three days later, immigration officials arrested Megahed outside of a Tampa Wal-Mart.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement declined our request for an interview, but said in a statement Mr. Megahed was arrested for "violations to the Immigration and Nationality Act," and "the charges differ significantly from those in his criminal case."

Megahed's family and supporters believe the government's actions amount to double jeopardy, getting a second chance to try a case it lost the first time around. But what the government is doing is perfectly legal.

According to former federal immigration prosecutor Dan Vara, it's the right thing to do.

"You have to ask yourself the question, 'Do we want to take that chance?" Vara said.

Musilm civil rights advocate Ramsi Kilic said because immigration courts have no jury and a lower burden of proof, it's much easier to convict defendants.

"If the government did have something to present, why didn't they present it in criminal court?" Kilic asked.

"Do you still have faith in the justice system?" Cobiella asked Samir Megahed.

"Yes, yes," Megahed said.

Faith that his son's day in immigration court will be as fair as the criminal trial.
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