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What was in the trunk
HT Michelle Malkin. Don't look like "fireworks" to me...TAMPA -- PVC pipe filled with homemade "low-grade explosive mixture'' and a videotape instruction for turning a remote-controlled toy car into a detonator were among the items found in the car driven by two University of South Florida students arrested in South Carolina and now facing federal explosives charges, according to a federal prosecutor. A judge set bail at $200,000 for one of the defendants, Youssef Megahed, but the government immediately appealed, which means Megahed will remain in custody. Earlier in the court hearing Friday, an assistant U.S attorney outlined the evidence confiscated from the car driven by Megahed and another suspended USF student -- describing a container and three pipes filled with a low-grade explosive mixture. The list also included a videotape that instructs viewers on how to convert a toy electric car into a detonator. Defendant Ahmed Mohamed has admitted making the tape, and in it he says he intended the instruction "to save one who wants to be a martyr for another battle,'' said federal prosecutor Jay Hoffer. Hoffer told a federal magistrate today that the government believed Youssef Megahed should be detained because he is a danger to the community and a flight risk. He itemized what South Carolina authorities found in the trunk of a car he and Mohamed were driving that concerned them. Those items included: three pieces of PVC piping that were filled with a mixture of potassium nitrate, Karo syrup and cat litter. Federal authorities called it a potassium nitrate low-grade explosive mixture, and said they also found more of that mixture in a separate container in the trunk. Additionally they found an electric drill, a box of .22 caliber bullets, a five gallon container filled with gasoline and 23 feet of safety fuse. FBI analysts said the explosive mixture met the definition for a low-grade explosive. Hoffer said many of the items had been purchased locally, in and around Tampa, by Mohamed. They also found a laptop computer in the men's car. On the laptop they found a 12-minute video on which a man shows how to turn a radio-controlled toy car into a remote-controlled detonator, Hoffer said. Jackpot... Mohamed admits that it is him in the video, although you cannot see his face, Hoffer said. In the video, Mohamed said that he was showing how to make such a device "to save one who wants to be a martyr for another battle,'' Hoffer said. Mohamed also makes reference to a toy boat in the video. The FBI seized a toy remote controlled boat in a box from Megahed's home. Megahed also purchased a .22 caliber rifle in mid-July. The FBI found it in a storage shed, Hoffer said. Hoffer also detailed for the judge why he believed Megahed is a flight risk. FBI agents saw, but did not seize, two Egyptian passports that appeared to belong to Megahed. Hoffer sad they both had pictures of Megahed, but one had a different family name. U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Jenkins asked why they didn't seize them, and Hoffer said the FBI made that decision because it was a consent search, and they didn't have a warrant. He also said Megahed was denied naturalization on in March 2006, because he too frequently traveled back to Egypt. Between 1998 and 2003, he spent more than 1,600 days in Egypt, he said. When authorities arrested him in South Carolina, he had a photocopy of an immigration green card, but no passport. Authorities said he also has traveled to Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and Canada, and that his family has substantial business ties in Egypt. On July 29th, the defendant and his brother went to Sears and got passport sized portraits made. Hoffer said the government saw no reason why they would have a need for these photos. If the defendant was able to return to Egypt while on bond, Hoffer said, the U.S. government would have a hard time getting him back to this country, because Egypt does not extradite its nationals."It may be very hard, if not impossible, to extradite him back to the Middle District of Florida,'' he said. Mohamed has waived his right to a detention hearing. Mohamed's attorney, Lionel Lofton, said he didn't believe his client would be allowed bail, so he thought there was no point in having the hearing today for Mohamed. "He has absolutely no ties to the United States or to this community," Lofton said. He also didn't think it was necessary to use the hearing to get more information about the evidence against his client. That's because he met with prosecutors on Thursday night to discuss the case. He declined to talk about his meeting with prosecutors, saying that he has not been formally retained by the Egyptian embassy, which is helping Mohamed find legal representation. It's unclear whether he will be retained. He is preparing a budget for this case to present to embassy officials. He said the case would be "extremely expensive." Yeah. Sounds like it. Heh heh heh... Posted by: tu3031 2007-09-15 |
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