Attorneys have said U.S. authorities will deport a former Florida professor and Palestinian rights activist who was acquitted on terrorism charges in December.

Attorneys involved in the case of Sami al-Arian say he has reached an agreement with prosecutors to plead guilty to a terrorism-related charge. A jury in Florida found him not guilty last year on eight counts, including conspiracy to murder people overseas.

The jury deadlocked on nine other charges. Al-Arian had been accused of helping to finance the activities of Islamic Jihad, a militant group blamed for terrorist attacks in Israel.

The University of South Florida fired al-Arian from his position as a computer science professor after he was indicted in 2003, saying he used his academic position for noneducational, improper purposes.  He has been in jail since the indictment.

Some information for this report was provided by AP.