Youssef Megahed

Youssef Megahed is an Egyptian national and a student at the University of South Florida who on April 3, 2009, was acquitted of federal explosives charges. On April 6, 2009, he was taken into custody by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to answer for the same charges.CNN: Student acquitted on explosives charges now facing immigration charges (April 6, 2009)

In August 2007, Youssef Magahed and Ahmed Abdellatif Sherif Mohamedwere pulled over for speeding. One of the men closed a laptop computer and put it in the back seat after the car was stopped.

The trunk of the car was discovered to contain what the FBI has classed as "low explosive" making materials, including a PVC pipe containing potassium nitrate, about 20 feet of safety fuse and containers filled with gasoline and a potassium nitrate mixture. The The laptop had a large number of folders with information related to the manufacturer and use of bombs, and a video of Mohamed explaining in Arabic how to turn a remote control car into a bomb detonator. Mohamed had uploaded the video to YouTube.

Mohamed pleaded guilty to providing material support to terrorists and was sentenced to 15 years. Megahed chose to face a jury and was acquitted on April 3, 2009. But the ICE arrested Megahed three days after his acquittal, accusing him of "civil violations of the immigration and Nationality Act" and basing the charges on the same event that he had been acquitted of three days before.CNN: Student acquitted on explosives charges now facing immigration charges (April 6, 2009)