Immigration judge views contested videos in Megahed case



By ELAINE SILVESTRINI

Published: August 19, 2009

MIAMI - An immigration judge considering whether to deport Youssef Megahed viewed evidence today that was barred during Megahed's federal criminal trial.

Judge Kenneth Hurewitz allowed government lawyers to play 11 brief video clips showing scenes of war in the Middle East, including attacks on U.S. vehicles and soldiers. The videos were taken from hundreds of thousands of files on the Megahed family computer.

The defense maintains there is no proof Megahed viewed the files. But the government says it's a logical conclusion given that the files were contained in a section of the computer used by someone with the user name "Usef," which witnesses pronounced the same as Youssef.

The videos were barred from Megahed's trial on charges of transporting explosives. U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday said prosecutors had violated deadlines for sharing information with the defense, and therefore, could not use the evidence at trial.

Megahed, a legal, permanent resident from Egypt, was acquitted in April. But three days later, he was detained by immigration agents.

Now, government attorneys are arguing Megahed is likely to engage in terrorist activities.

At this week's deportation hearing, an FBI supervisor testified that agents believe Megahed and his friend Ahmed Mohamed were part of a terrorist cell that was dismantled when the then-University of South Florida students were arrested in August 2007.

The two friends were taken into custody following a traffic stop in South Carolina when deputies said they found pipe bombs in the vehicle's trunk. The items were later determined to be low explosives.

The defense maintained the devices were Mohamed's model rockets; an FBI supervisor testified in the immigration case that they were miniatures of rockets used in the Middle East.

Mohamed is serving 15 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to trying to help terrorists by posting a video on YouTube in which he shows how to use a remote-controlled toy to detonate a bomb.

There is no evidence linking Megahed to the YouTube video.

The videos shown today were last viewed by "Usef" about two months before the arrests, said FBI Agent Tim Pivaichny, who also testified about the Internet history of the computer.

The videos, which were saved to the computer in August 2006, all contain a soundtrack with Arabic music and a logo with the words, "There is no God but God and Muhammad is the messenger of God," according to the government's translation.

One video is titled, "The destruction of an American military hummer and the killing of those in it." It shows the vehicle being hit by an explosion, and then has an arrow showing that the vehicle's turret is gone, as is the soldier who was inside.

After more explosions, the video shows various parts of the vehicle, with the words, "After the execution."

Pivaichny also testified about numerous visits in 2006 and 2007 to Web sites with information about weapons, bombs and rockets. Most of them are searches of Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia.

On May 28, 2007, there were searches about Islam, Muslim studies and Sami Al-Arian, a former USF professor who was prosecuted on terrorism charges. About two weeks before, a documentary about Al-Arian premiered in Tampa.

Also on May 28, 2007, there were searches about St. Peter, Christianity and various rockets.

Most Web searches occurred as the user was playing chess online, making moves between clicks to other sites.

Megahed's defense attorney, Charles Kuck, began what he said would be an extensive cross-examination, taking Pivaichny through scores of other Web sites visited by "Usef" on the day in question. Among the searches Kuck identified were some on Mickey Mouse and animation.

Kuck also suggested it was not unusual for someone in Megahed's family to search for information about military weapons because family members are on active military duty in Egypt.

Most of the Web surfing, Pivaichny agreed, was "normal" for a man of about Megahed's age, about 20 at the time of the searches. There were also clicks on sites advertising videos of "hot models" and other adult content.

The hearing continues Thursday.


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