USF student suspects will be returned to Tampa

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Two University of South Florida students who are facing federal explosives charges after an arrest a month ago will be returned to Tampa, attorneys said after a sudden hearing today in federal court.

Attorneys for both men say their clients, Youssef Megahed and Ahmed Mohamed, are pleased to be returning to Tampa, where they were living while attending USF. "They'll be happy to get back,'' said Lionel Lofton, attorney for Mohamed.

Neither Lofton nor Andy Savage, attorney for Megahed, knew when the men might be returned in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. However, in court Thursday, instead of the usual jailhouse uniforms, both men were wearing street clothes. Mohamed was wearing the clothes he was arrested in, Lofton said, a knee-length bathing suit and a dirty T-shirt. Megahed was wearing clothes that his attorney, Savage, said did not appear to be his and were mismatched.

The initial appearance hearing took about five minutes. Defense attorneys "waived identity," the only legal issue scheduled to be presented today. That means both defense attorneys agree that their clients are the people named in the indictment and it sets in motion the process to bring the two to Tampa.

The next court proceeding for the men likely will be a detention hearing that has been requested by the government, which wants to hold the men without bail. It will take place in Tampa, the attorneys said, but no time or date was set. The timeframe is dependent on when the men are transported by the U.S. Marshal's Service. For security reasons, they have not told the defense attorneys how or when they will be taken.

Also unclear was whether the two South Carolina attorneys would continue to represent the men once they returned to face court proceedings in Tampa. The lawyers said they planned to make at least an initial trip. "See you in Tampa,'' Lofton said to a reporter as he and Savage went in to meet with their clients.

Both attorneys met with their clients after the sudden hearing and both Mohamed and Megahed appeared to be in good spirits, Lofton said. Both attorneys are now asking for more specifics on the evidence against their clients.

Savage said "My suspicion is there's nothing. This is not a secret society we live in. I'm a little bit disturbed the government hasn't been more forthcoming."

Indeed, circumstances surrounding the hearing appeared somewhat mysterious. They learned about Thursday's hearing when someone from one of their offices was heading to the jail to speak with one of the men. The employee called ahead to check and learned the men were no longer at the Berkeley County Jail. And when a reporter arrived at the federal courthouse, a bailiff said there was no hearing going on and she would only be allowed in the clerk's office. The hearing for the two men was going on at that moment.

Although the attorneys had not been officially notified, the federal hearing means that state charges have been dropped, one attorney said.

Mohamed's father, Abellatif Mohamed, said in a phone interview from Cairo this afternoon that the family is relieved that Mohamed is being returned to Tampa.

"I am sure that my son is innocent, and this is the only thing I can tell you," Mohamed's father said.

The two men were arrested outside of Charleston Aug. 4 after a traffic stop. A deputy became suspicious and asked to search their car. Authorities later said they saw pipe bombs in the trunk. In an interview with the St. Petersburg Times, local police said they also saw a box of bullets in the car.

Abbie VanSickle, Times staff writer