TAMPA, Florida: Jurors who acquitted an Egyptian college student of explosives charges say they disagree with his arrest by immigration authorities trying to deport him.
Four jurors who found Youssef Megahed, 23, not guilty of possessing explosives that could be used to make a destructive device issued a statement Wednesday saying his arrest is fundamentally wrong.
Megahed was acquitted April 3 after a three-week trial in Tampa, Florida.
Jurors say trying to deport Megahed based on the same charges shows a blatant disregard for their verdict.
Megahed and a friend were arrested after South Carolina deputies said they found explosives during an August 2007 traffic stop.
Megahed’s lawyer Adam Allen argued during the three-week trial that the items found in his car were homemade model rocket engines built and packed into the car by a friend without Megahed s knowledge.
Prosecutors implied that Megahed and his friend, Ahmed Mohamed, planned an act of terrorism.
Mohamed was sentenced last year to 15 years in prison for making a YouTube video showing would-be terrorists how to convert a remote-control toy into a bomb detonator. The video was found on Mohamed s laptop computer that was seized during the traffic stop.
Megahed wasn t charged in connection with the video, and his trial jury didn t get to hear about it.
In a statement, ICE spokesman James Judge said Megahed has been placed into removal proceedings and will be held until a judge hears his case. He declined to comment further.
Megahed is a legal permanent US resident who s lived with his family in the United States since he was 11. -AP
