MELBOURNE, Fla. – A 25-year-old United Arab Emirates citizen who was recently kicked out of college was arrested in Central Florida on allegations of unlawfully possessing ammunition.
U.S. Attorney A. Lee Bentley III said Hamid Mohamed Ahmed Ali Rehaif is in federal custody on a charge of possession of ammunition by an unlawful or illegal alien. He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison, if convicted.
According to a complaint, Rehaif was admitted into the United States in 2013 under a student visa. He had been enrolled at the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, but was terminated as a student in the fall of 2014, officials said.
Rehaif failed to leave the country within 30 days of his termination as a student and became an unlawful alien, officials said.
Law enforcement agents made contact with Rehaif on Wednesday at a hotel in Melbourne, where he had been living for the last two months, paying more than $11,000 in cash for room fees, authorities said. Rehaif admitted to possessing several firearms, but said that he had recently sold or disposed of them, officials said. He also admitted to firing those weapons at two local gun ranges, according to officials.
Authorities say Rehaif also spent time at gun ranges, one in Orlando, the other at FrogBones Gun Range in Melbourne.
"He shot better than other people I've seen on the range," said Doug Torpy, manager.
Torpy said Rehaif visited the range twice, most recently on Dec. 2, renting a Glock 43 for practice. However, Tropy said there was nothing strange about his demeanor.
"He had the proper documentation to be able to shoot and be in possession of a firearm so he presented everything to us and acted as if he was in a sound mind," said Tropy.
Agents located rounds of handgun and rifle ammunition in his hotel room and in a storage unit that he had rented, but they did not locate any firearms, the complaint stated.
Investigators said Rehaif admitted to being in the country illegally.
Rehaif waived his detention hearing, and will have his preliminary hearing in U.S. District Court in Orlando on Monday.
This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI.