Details emerge in S.C. explosives case

Details emerge in S.C. explosives case

A college student indicted on explosives charges may be released from custody on bond and under such conditions as 24-hour electronic monitoring, a judge ruled Friday at a hearing that also revealed details on the allegations.

Youssef Samir Megahed's entire immediate family must also surrender their passports, U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Jenkins said after a hearing at which bond was set at $200,000.

It was not immediately clear how soon Megahed would be released. Members of his family, which attended Friday's hearing, declined to comment.

Megahed, 21, and Sherif Mohamed, 24, both students at the University of South Florida in Tampa, were indicted Aug. 31 on federal charges of transporting explosives across state lines. Mohamed also faces terrorism-related charges on suspicion of demonstrating how to use the explosives.

They were arrested on state charges of possession of an explosive device after an Aug. 5 traffic stop in South Carolina. The state charge was dropped after the federal indictment.

Prosecutor Jay Hoffer on Friday called Megahed "a significant danger to the community" and noted that if he were to flee to his home country of Egypt, it would be difficult to get him back.

"It may be hard if not impossible to extradite him back to the state of Florida," Hoffer told the judge.

South Carolina authorities found three pieces of piping cut into small sections in the trunk of a car Megahed was traveling in, each filled with a "potassium nitrate explosive mixture," Hoffer said.

Also found in the car were 20 feet of fuse, a box of .22-caliber bullets, a drill that could have been used to "perhaps insert a fuse" into the explosive devices, and a partially filled 5-gallon gasoline container, Hoffer said.

The men claim the explosive materials were simply for homemade fireworks, but Hoffer said Megahed denied knowing any of the materials were even in the vehicle.

In a secretly recorded conversation between Megahed and Mohamed while they were in the back of a patrol car during their arrest, Hoffer said Megahed "asked Mr. Mohamed pointedly, 'What did you tell them about the gas canister?'"

Hoffer also told the judge that a laptop computer found inside the car had been used to visit Web sites about "rifles, weaponry, about the conflict in the Middle East, jihadists."

He said the last video viewed was of a rocket being fired, similar to "part of jihad armory ... weapons used in the Middle East."

Another video, which Mohamed has acknowledged he made, shows "how to turn a radio controlled car into a detonator that could be used for an explosive," Hoffer said.

Authorities also found a .22-caliber rifle with a scope in a storage shed used by Megahed, Hoffer said.

Megahed's public defender, Adam Allen, had argued for release on $50,000 bond, noting his client had "zero criminal history" and had lived a "completely law-abiding life."

"He's a respected young man," Allen told the judge.

Allen also noted that the materials found in the car were "not pipe bombs as has been indicated."

In addition to the bond and surrender of his passport, Jenkins ordered Megahed to have no access to the Internet and noted that his family must relinquish their Fourth Amendment rights to allow authorities to search their home at any time, for any reason.

Megahed is a permanent U.S. resident and lives in Tampa with his family. He is an undergraduate studying engineering. Mohamed, also from Egypt, is a civil engineering graduate student and is in the country on a student visa.

Mohamed remained in federal custody after waiving his right to bond. A telephone message left for Mohamed's attorney was not immediately returned.