Arab student denied bail
A federal judge reverses a ruling that favored Youssef Megahed.
By KEVIN GRAHAM, Times Staff Writer
Published October 26, 2007
TAMPA - Details of Youssef Megahed's connection to guns, explosives, ammunition and an all-night drive to an "unstated and indeterminate destination" were among the reasons a federal judge denied him bail Thursday.
Megahed is awaiting trial on a charge of illegally transporting explosive materials.
U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday said in a written ruling that Megahed presents "both a risk of flight and a danger to the community." Therefore, the judge said, he was unwilling to rely upon restrictions such as electronic monitoring, curfews and other limits and grant bail.
Adam Allen, the assistant federal public defender representing Megahed, 21, said he plans to review all options on the judge's order, including the possibility of an appeal.
Merryday's decision reverses a ruling by Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Jenkins, who ordered that Megahed could be released on $200,000 bail, with conditions. Prosecutors appealed her ruling.
In a 25-page order, Merryday supported his decision by saying that Megahed is young and has no local investments, no established local career and no other compelling attachments to the bay area. But his family has extensive ties to their homeland of Egypt, the judge said. That increases the likelihood that Megahed would flee the country, Merryday wrote.
The judge also said he took into account the actions of Megahed alleged by prosecutors.
They said Megahed and Ahmed Mohamed, 26, had what experts described as materials for low-grade explosives in his trunk on an Aug. 4 trip to South Carolina and a box of .22-caliber bullets in his car. He stopped at an Ocala Wal-Mart around 4 a.m. and jotted down the prices of several rifles, then hours later stopped at another Wal-Mart in Jacksonville to buy a cleaning kit for a .30-caliber rifle, prosecutors said.
A sheriff's deputy stopped Megahed and Mohamed near a naval base in Goose Creek, S.C., for speeding, then searched their car when he became suspicious.
"I cannot dismiss the real prospect of additional erratic, unreasonable and dangerous behavior from Megahed, and I am unwilling to subject the community to the prospect, at least until further inquiry - and if necessary, a jury - places a definitive interpretation on these troubling events," Merryday said.
If convicted, Megahed could get up to two years in prison, followed by possible deportation, prosecutors said.
Megahed and Mohamed have pleaded not guilty to the explosive charge. Mohamed has also pleaded not guilty to a charge of demonstrating how to make an explosive. He did not ask for bail.
Both men have been suspended from the University of South Florida, where they are students. Merryday has scheduled a trial to begin as early as Dec. 3.
Kevin Graham can be reached at kgraham@sptimes.com or 813 226-3433.