 TAMPA - A University of South Florida student charged with transporting explosives will not be released on bail, a federal judge ruled Thursday. In ruling that Youssef Megahed poses a flight risk and a danger to the community, Judge Steven D. Merryday overturned a Sept. 14 ruling by federal Magistrate Elizabeth Jenkins, who said the defendant could be released on $200,000 bail under strict conditions.
Merryday wrote in a 25-page ruling that no conditions would stop Megahed if he "wants to blow something up or cause a disturbance. ... I am unwilling at the prospective cost of property damage, injury or death to assume he will not do so."
| My gawd, common sense from the bench. How long before the leftie lawyer groups take aim? |
Megahed's attorney, public defender Adam Allen, said, "We respect the court's ruling but are disappointed. We are going to review our options, including the possibility of an appeal."
Megahed, 21, was arrested Aug. 4 in South Carolina along with fellow USF student Ahmed Mohamed, 26, after deputies found explosives in the trunk of the car in which the two men were riding, authorities said. Mohamed was driving the care, which was registered to Megahed's brother.
Mohamed has waived his right to a bail hearing. Both defendants are Egyptian nationals. Megahed is a legal, permanent U.S. resident, and Mohamed has a student visa.
| So the flight risk is about 99%. |
Both are charged with illegally transporting explosives. Mohamed also is charged with trying to help terrorists by teaching or demonstrating the use of explosives. Authorities say Mohamed posted a video to the Web site YouTube in which he showed how to use a remote-controlled toy to detonate a bomb.
"The evidence fails to establish or even suggest any innocent or wholesome explanation for the events that led to Megahed's arrest," Merryday wrote. "Guns, explosives, fuses, canisters of gasoline, ammunition, welding equipment, GPS devices, all-night interstate drives to an unstated and indeterminate destination, stops to check gun prices and availability, and computers with a recent history of visits to sites that feature the advocates and the means of violence are not attributes that a disinterested but cautious observer associates with a safe and tranquil citizen of the community," the judge said.
"Rather, a person about whom these attributes are discovered is a person whose means, motive and degree of determination are unknown and unpredictable and who is highly suspicious and threatening."
Merryday also concluded Megahed does not have strong ties to the community. Noting the defendant moved to the United States about 10 years ago and to Tampa four years ago, the judge listed Megahed's different residences and the fact that he and his family live in a rental home. "Only since 2007 has Megahed begun employment, first (and only briefly) at an automobile dealership and afterward at a mental health service as a $10-per-hour 'technician.' ''
| So how did he survive for nine years in the US? Who's got the bankroll? |
The judge said Megahed has a $3,000 balance in his checking account, but his parents do not require him to contribute to household expenses. "Neither Megahed's father nor his mother works outside the home, but the family enjoys substantial business ties and interests in Egypt."
| So why does he get a public defender? |
Merryday said he gave little or no weight in making his decision to a video the prosecution offered of Megahed's brother, Yahia, making faces and gestures when he had gone to visit his brother in jail. The defense said Yahia Megahed was aping for a camera while he waited for his brother, who was in his cell and unable to view him at the time.
| We'll make faces at him, too, when he finally comes to the dock for whatever scheme he's planning now, and you know he is. |
The judge also said he didn't consider the fact that investigators found a remote-controlled toy boat in the Megahed home. "I find none of these matters compelling or deserving of weight in considering Megahed's detention (although the Falkenburg video is mightily peculiar and the remote control toy is a provocative coincidence)," the judge wrote. |