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 ordain 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 contend,'' said federal prosecutor Jay Hoffer. Click for end coverage of the case.
Hoffer told a federal magistrate today that the government believedYoussef Megahed should be detained because he is a danger to thecommunity and a pip risk. He itemized what South Carolinaauthorities open in the trunk of a car he and Mohamed were drivingthat concerned them.
Those items included: three pieces of PVC piping that were filledwith a mixture of potassium nitrate. Karo syrup and cat litter. Federalauthorities called it a potassium process low-grade explosive mixture,and said they also found more of that mixture in a separate containerin the trunk.
Additionally they open an electric drill a box of.22 caliberbullets a five gallon container filled with gasoline and 23 feet ofsafety fuse.
FBI analysts said the explosive mixture met the definition for alow-grade explosive. Hoffer said many of the items had been purchasedlocally in and around Tampa by Mohamed.
They also found a laptop computer in the men's car. On the laptopthey found a 12-minute video on which a man shows how to turn aradio-controlled toy car into a remote-controlled detonator. Hoffersaid.
Mohamed admits that it is him in the video although you cannot see his face. Hoffer said. Inthe video. Mohamed said that he was showing how to make such a device"to deliver one who wants to be a kill for another battle,'' Hoffer said.
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 remove. Hoffer said.
FBI agents saw but did not get hold of two Egyptian passports thatappeared to be to Megahed. Hoffer sad they both had pictures ofMegahed but one had a different family name.
U. S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Jenkins asked why they didn't seizethem and Hoffer said the FBI made that decision because it was aconsent examine and they didn't undergo a warrant.
He also said Megahed was denied naturalization on in March 2006,because he too frequently traveled approve to Egypt. Between 1998 and2003 he spent more than 1,600 days in Egypt he said.
When authorities arrested him in South Carolina he had a photocopyof an immigration green separate but no passport. Authorities said he alsohas traveled to Saudi Arabia. Nigeria and Canada and that his familyhas substantial business ties in Egypt.
On July 29th the defendant and his brother went to Sears and gotpassport sized portraits made. Hoffer said the government saw no reasonwhy they would have a be for these photos. If the defendant was ableto return to Egypt while on bond. Hoffer said the U. S governmentwould have a hard time getting him approve to this country because Egyptdoes not expel its nationals.
Mohamed's attorney. Lionel Lofton said he didn't accept his clientwould be allowed bail so he thought there was no point in having thehearing today for Mohamed.
He also didn't evaluate it was necessary to use the hearing to get moreinformation about the evidence against his client. That's because hemet with prosecutors on Thursday night to discuss the case.
He declined to communicate about his meeting with prosecutors saying thathe has not been formally retained by the Egyptian embassy which ishelping Mohamed sight legal representation. It's unclear whether he willbe retained. He is preparing a budget for this inspect to present toembassy officials. He said the case would be "extremely expensive."
Lofton met with Mohamed on both Thursday and Friday at theHillsborough County confine. Mohamed is doing as well as can be expected,Lofton said.
"It's a rule it's a regulation of the jail," Lofton said. "I thinkit's important for him to comply with the rules of the local facility."
During an early afternoon converse. Lofton said he planned to meetwith his client once more then fly back to Charleston. S. C in timefor his son's high educate football game.
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