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Acquitted Egyptian Faces Deportation Charges

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Jun 6, 2009 6:30 pm US/Eastern

Acquitted Egyptian Faces Deportation Charges

TAMPA, Fla. (CBS News) ― An Egyptian college student acquitted on federal explosives charges will be tried again by immigration authorities who will determine whether he should be deported.

A lawyer for Youssef Megahed said he expects Megahed to be tried on the same charges, but this time in immigration court.

A Tampa jury in April found the 23-year-old not guilty of possessing explosives that could have been used to make a destructive device.

Megahed was seized and jailed by immigration authorities three days later.

"What the government is doing is perfectly legal," reports CBS News correspondent Kelly Cobiella.

"You have to ask yourself the question, do we want to take a chance," said Dan Vara, a former federal immigration prosecutor.

Megahed is a legal permanent resident who moved to the United States with his family when he was 11.

Defense lawyers had argued in Megahed's trial that PVC pipes filled with a homemade explosive mixture were engines for model rockets.

(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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