Goose Creek Update: Mohamed Gets 15

Ahmed Mohamed has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for providing material support to terrorists.

In court, U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday pondered the 27-year-old's potential aloud, gazing at the former engineering doctoral student and teaching assistant who had once managed a 4.0 GPA.

"I still wonder why this young man in front of me at his age, at his intelligence, how he has become committed to this path," Merryday said.

Mohamed admitted in a June plea agreement to creating a YouTube video showing how to turn a child's remote control toy into a detonator. He told authorities the video was to be used by martyrs fighting "invaders" of Arab countries, including the U.S. military.

Yousef Megahead, who was arrested along with Mohamed in South Carolina on 04 August 2007, is still awaiting trial.

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One Down, One To Go

Ahmed Mohamed has entered a guilty plea and will be sentenced in September.

An Egyptian college student pleaded guilty Wednesday to making a video demonstrating how to build a remote bomb detonator to help terrorists kill enemies including American soldiers.

Ahmed Abdellatif Sherif Mohamed, 26, one of two University of South Florida students arrested after a South Carolina traffic stop in August, pleaded guilty to providing material support to terrorists. He faces up to 15 years in prison when he is sentenced in September.

Yousef Megahead, who was arrested along with Mohamed in South Carolina in August of 2007, is still awaiting trial on charges of transporting explosives and possession of a destructive device.

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Mohamed And Megahed Updates

There are a few new items to note in the case of Ahmed Mohamed and Yousef Megahead. In case you don't know what I'm referring to, they are the two Egyptian USF students who were arrested in South Carolina on 04 August 2007 after authorities found explosives in the trunk of the vehicle that they were driving. You can see my previous posts here, here, and here.

First, the request by Megahed to be tried separately has been denied.

Two Egyptian college students who are facing federal explosives charges will be tried together, a judge ruled Thursday.

One of the defendants, Youssef Megahed, asked U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday to sever the cases earlier this month. Merryday denied that motion without comment in a written order.

Second, the trial date has been moved to March of 2008.

The pair's trial, slated to start Monday, Dec. 3, was postponed until March 2008, said Assistant U.S. Public Defender Adam Allen. Allen represents Yousef Megahed, who along with Ahmed Mohamed, awaits their trial.

In recent filings, both Allen and John Fitzgibbons, the high-powered celebrity lawyer representing Mohamed, indicated uncertainty about the appropriateness of the Dec. 3 trial date.

On Nov. 19, Fitzgibbons moved to delay the trial, citing concerns that the defense needs time for lengthy testing of prosecutor's evidence before the trial begins. Because much of the evidence is stored at the FBI laboratory in Quantico, Va., Fitzgibbons said its examination might take more time.

"It will be necessary for the defense to consult with - and possibly employ - computer experts, explosives exerts [sic] and probably other experts," he wrote.

Third, they are continuing to state that what was found in their trunk was only homemade fireworks.

Ahmed Mohamed said he made the fireworks, called "sugar rockets," because it was cheaper than buying fireworks at a roadside stand, the defense filing said. [...]

Mohamed told investigators that he became interested in fireworks just before July 4, public defender Adam Allen wrote.

Mohamed told authorities the devices "did not explode, but traveled a few feet into the air and would make smoke."

Since the defense wants to consult with computer experts, explosives experts, and likely language experts, I would venture to guess that they are going to try to deflect the impact of what was found in the vehicle at the time of the arrest. Through experts, the defense will likely claim that some of the files on Mohamed's laptop could have been stored there without his knowledge while he was logged into a network; that, although matching the legal definition of an explosive, the items in the trunk were just homemade fireworks; and that the translations of Arabic statements or writing made by either of the two has been made to sound worse than it is due to not accounting for colloquial or traditional usage of words or phrases.

Keep this in mind, however, as the defense tries to muddy the waters and create doubt in the minds of the jurors:

When it is suggested that the pipes found in the trunk of the vehicle were only fireworks, also consider the facts that:

• Ahmed Mohamed and Yousef Megahed had a suspicious conversation in Arabic while in the back of the police car about how to explain what was found in the trunk of their vehicle.

• The contents of the pipes found in the in the trunk of the vehicle meet the legal definition of an explosive.

• Authorities found a file titled "Bomb Shock" on Ahmed Mohamed's computer. That contained files about explosives, including detailed descriptions of TNT and of C-4.

• FBI agents found a toy remote-control boat, still in its box, and a partially dismantled digital watch at Youssef Megahed's Tampa, FL, home. They suspect that the items are the beginnings of a homemade bomb.

When it is suggested that Mohamed became interested in fireworks just before 04 July 2007, consider the facts that:

• Authorities found a file titled "Bomb Shock" on Ahmed Mohamed's computer. That contained files about explosives, including detailed descriptions of TNT and of C-4.

• Ahmed Mohamed admitted to the FBI that he made a 12-minute video posted on YouTube that explained in Arabic how to turn a toy boat into a bomb. Mohamed stated that "the technology which he demonstrated in the tape was to be used against those who fought for the United States."

When it is suggested that, while Mohamed's actions may raise alarm until properly explained, Megahed is just a fellow college student who was only traveling along with Mohamed, consider the facts that:

• Ahmed Mohamed and Yousef Megahed had a suspicious conversation in Arabic while in the back of the police car about how to explain what was found in the trunk of their vehicle.

• Yousef Megahed has two Egyptian passports, one of which is under a different last name.

• Yousef Megahed's application for citizenship was turned down in 2006 because he had been out of the country for more than 1,600 days from 1999 through 2003. That means that Yousef was out of the country over 87% of the time during those five years, and many of those were trips to Egypt that lasted six months or more.

• Yousef Megahed was allegedly researching high-powered rifles. Authorities say the information about that research was found on Megahed at the time of his arrest on 04 August 2007, and that he and Ahmed Mohammed may have stopped at a Wal-Mart on the way to South Carolina to look at rifles.

The facts still don't seem to match the stories, and I think that the defense knows that. I believe that the defense will attempt to muddy the water and question minor aspects in an attempt to cast greater dispersion over the entirety of the prosecution's case, and I think that they will do this because they will not be able to logically explain all of the evidence that will be presented against their clients.

There probably won't be much more coming out on this case until next spring, but I will continue to monitor it and keep you posted.

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Secret Jihadi Code, Or Just Silly?

This is my third post on Ahmed Mohamed and Yousef Megahead, the two Egyptian citizens who were arrested in South Carolina on 04 August 2007 after authorities found explosives in the trunk of the vehicle that they were driving. My previous two posts are here and here.

The vehicle that Ahmed and Yousef were in when they were stopped is registered to Yousef's brother, Yahia Megahed. Yahia caused a bit of a stir himself about a week ago when he was recorded acting strangely while on a vist to the jail to see his brother.

An odd video raises new questions about the USF students who caused a national security scare. Ahmed Mohamed and Yousef Megahed are already charged with driving explosives across state lines. Now prosecutors say Megahed's brother tried to send a sinister code through a jail-house camera.

To make matters worse for Yousef, at about the same time as his brother was "acting silly" on camera, prosecutors released information that Yousef had been researching high-powered rifles.

A federal judge in Tampa on Friday, heard new evidence against Megahed that, in addition to the video inlcudes research allegedly done by Megahed on high powered rifles. Prosecutors say Goose Creek police say they found the information on Megahed at the time he and fellow Univsersity of South Florida student Ahmed Mohamed were arrested in August.

Evidence also includes a stop the two made at an Ocala Wal-Mart on their way to South Carolina and a weapon prosecutors say Megahed stored at a rented storage unit.

Also back around the time of the stop, a hidden microphone in the back of the squad car that Ahmed and Yousef were originally put in picked up their conversation that night.

In the back of the patrol car on the way to jail on charges of possession of an explosive device, the two whispered in their native Arabic while a hidden recorder taped their conversation, according to court documents:

"Did you tell them there is something in them?" Mohamed asked, an apparent reference to the PVC pipes.

"Water," Megahed said.

"Water! Right? The black water is in the Pepsi."

A few seconds pass in silence. Mohamed speaks again.

"Did you tell them about the benzene (gasoline)?"

"I have nothing to do with it. I do the fireworks and so... so... so... that is it."

With that in mind, let's take a moment to recap.

• The vehicle that Ahmed Mohamed and Yousef Megahed were stopped in was registered to Yousef's brother, Yahia Megahed.

• Ahmed Mohamed and Yousef Megahed had a suspicious conversation in Arabic while in the back of the police car about how to explain what was found in the trunk of their vehicle.

• The pipes found in the in the trunk of the vehicle were not fireworks, and their contents meet the legal definition of an explosive.

• Authorities found a file titled "Bomb Shock" on Ahmed Mohamed's computer. That contained files about explosives, including detailed descriptions of TNT and of C-4.

• Ahmed Mohamed admitted to the FBI that he made a 12-minute video posted on YouTube that explained in Arabic how to turn a toy boat into a bomb. Mohamed stated that "the technology which he demonstrated in the tape was to be used against those who fought for the United States."

• FBI agents found a toy remote-control boat, still in its box, and a partially dismantled digital watch at Youssef Megahed's Tampa, FL, home. They suspect that the items are the beginnings of a homemade bomb.

• On Aug. 29, Ahmed Mohamed and Yousef Megahed were indicted by a federal grand jury in Tampa on charges of transporting explosive materials. Mohamed also was charged with teaching and demonstrating the making and use of an explosive and destructive device.

• Yousef Megahed has two Egyptian passports, one of which is under a different last name.

• Yousef Megahed's application for citizenship was turned down in 2006 because he had been out of the country for more than 1,600 days from 1999 through 2003. That means that Yousef was out of the country over 87% of the time during those five years, and many of those were trips to Egypt that lasted six months or more.

• Yahia Megahed, while at the jail to visit his brother Yousef Megahed, was recorded acting strangely. Prosecutors suspect that this may have been an attempt by Yahia to pass a coded message.

• Yousef Megahed was allegedly researching high-powered rifles. Authorities say the information about that research was found on Megahed at the time of his arrest on 04 August 2007, and that he and Ahmed Mohammed may have stopped at a Wal-Mart on the way to South Carolina to look at rifles.

Take a look at the evidence that keeps piling-up, and then ask yourself if it really seems to match the explanation that Mohamed and Megahed gave of having homemade fireworks in their trunk for a vacation that they were going to have in North Carolina. That doesn't seem very plausible to me.

Also, why is this not a bigger story in the MSM? I've been dealing with a sick child over the past week, so that is why this post was delayed, but it really seems to me like this should be covered more closely in the MSM than Anna Nicole Smith, Britany Spears, and Al Gore.

I'm not the only one watching this closely, but it really appears like it is only bloggers who are keeping on top of it. I'll keep looking into this one throughout the course of the case.

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Mohamed And Megahed's S.C. Adventure

Remember those two Middle Eastern men who were found with suspicious materials in the trunk of their car after being stopped on a South Carolina highway near the Naval Weapons Center and the Naval Consolidated Brig on 04 August 2007? I put up a post about it on 06 August 2007. Well, they've been indicted on federal charges of transporting explosives across state lines. Here are some items that have been recently disclosed:

• Ahmed Mohamed admitted to FBI agents that he made a training video to show people in "Arabic countries" how to use remote-controlled bombs against American soldiers.

• Someone using Mohamed's laptop computer used the search words "martyrdooms" and "suiciders" to link to the video on YouTube.

• Authorities found a toy remote-control boat, still in its box, and a partially dismantled digital watch at Youssef Samir Megahed's Tampa, Fla., home. They suspect that the items are the beginnings of a homemade bomb.

• On Mohamed's computer, authorities found a file titled "Bomb Shock," which contains files about explosives, including detailed descriptions of TNT and of C-4, a military-grade plastic explosive.

One of them made a training video in Arabic showing how to make a remote-control detonated bomb, and had detailed information about explosives on his computer. The other had a remote-control boat and a digital watch that had been disassembled to some extent. Of course they are still claiming that what was in their trunk was only homemade fireworks and that this is all just a big misunderstanding.

Somehow I just don't buy their story. Besides the facts of the case and their explanations not seeming to match-up too well, there is also the fact that there has been limited coverage of this case. Now, I understand that this isn't O.J. or a drunk Mel Gibson, but if there was something out there that would clear these two, I'm willing to bet that Katie Couric or Keith Olbermann would be pointing to this as proof that the big-bad federal government is discriminating against poor Muslim college students who went a little over the speed limit while passing through South Carolina.

You'll notice that Katie and Keith aren't doing that, though, and Mohamed and Megahed's stories just aren't adding up. I think there's more to this, and I'll keep watching.

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Nothing To See Here

Two young men of Middle Eastern descent, Ahmed Mohamed and Yousef Megahed, were stopped by police on Hwy. 176 in South Carolina on Saturday night. What started as a routine traffic stop turned into something much more when law enforcement found what is believed to be explosives and explosive making material in their vehicle. The Berkeley County Sheriff announced charges today.

Sheriff Wayne DeWitt says 24-year-old Ahmed Abda Sherf Mohamed and 21-year-old Yousef Samir Megahed were charged today [with possession of incendiary devices], after being arrested late Saturday night near Goose Creek.

Police say the men told them they had fireworks. DeWitt says the officers had reason to believe the material was not fireworks.

As usual, however, you may have missed this story if you get your news from the MSM. I checked the websites for ABC News, CBS News, CNN, FOX News, and MSNBC at about 0830 CDT this morning, and not a single one had anything about this incident. You can find the story deeper in their websites, but you need to search for the story on most of them (FOX had the headline about two-thirds of the way down on their U.S. news page, the rest required a search).

One would think that two Middle Eastern men caught with possible explosives near the Naval Weapons Center and the Naval Consolidated Brig would garner slightly higher billing.

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