A Minnesota man who once fought Islamic State group A man who was radicalized in Syria expressed remorse and wept in open court Thursday as he was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.
Abelhamid al-Madioum, 27, cooperated with federal authorities ahead of Thursday’s hearing, which prosecutors factored into their recommendation for a sentence less than the statutory maximum of 20 years.
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U.S. District Judge Ann Montgomery said al-Madioum’s case was “exceptional” among all the cases she has presided over during her 40-year tenure. She cited his astonishing journey from a loving home in Minnesota to one of the world’s most notorious terrorist organizations and his subsequent cooperation with the government he betrayed.
When al-Madiyum rose to speak before sentencing, he thanked the US government for giving him another chance. He then addressed his parents and two young sons, who were rescued from a Syrian orphanage and brought to the US with the help of federal authorities.
“I know I have made you suffer a lot, and I did so believing it was my religious duty,” al-Mad’um said, holding back tears. “That is no excuse. My first duty should have been to you.”
This image provided by the Sherburne County Jail in Elk River, Minnesota, shows Abelhamid al-Madioum, a Minnesota resident who once fought for the Islamic State group in Syria. Al-Madioum expressed remorse and cried in open court Thursday when he was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison. (Sherburne County Jail, via AP)
Al-Madium, a naturalized U.S. citizen, was one of many Minnesota residents suspected of leaving the U.S. to join the Islamic State group, along with thousands of fighters from other countries around the world. About three dozen people are known to have left Minnesota to join terrorist groups in Somalia or Syria. In 2016, nine Minnesota men were sentenced on federal charges of conspiring to join IS.
But al-Madioum is one of the few Americans to be brought back to the US who actually fought for the group. He is one of 11 adults to be formally brought back to the US from the conflicts in Syria and Iraq by 2023 to face charges of terrorism-related crimes and alleged links to IS, according to the defense sentencing memorandum. The others have received sentences ranging from four years to life imprisonment and up to 70 years.
Prosecutors had sought a 12-year sentence, arguing that al-Madioum’s suffering did not make his crimes any less serious. Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Winter said al-Madioum radicalized himself online and helped ISIS, known as ISIS, accomplish its goals.
“Young people like him all over the world … allowed ISIS to flourish,” Winter said.
Al-Madhium’s lawyer, Manveer Atwal, asked for a seven-year sentence. He said al-Madhium had been framed as an impressionable teenager by a well-prepared propaganda machine. He had rejected extremist ideology several years ago and had helped the government in other terrorism cases, which prosecutors have confirmed.
Montgomery opted for a 10-year sentence, considering sentencing guidelines based on al-Madiom’s cooperation and letters written on his behalf, including one from an unnamed former U.S. ambassador. Atwal said he had already served more than five years and could receive credit for that time.
The defense memo said al-Madioum grew up in a loving and non-religious family in the Minneapolis suburb of St. Louis Park. He joined IS because he wanted to help Muslims who he believed were being killed by IS. Syrian President Bashar Assad’s In that country’s ongoing civil war, ISIS recruiters encouraged him to “test his religion and become a true Muslim.”
Al-Madioum was 18 in 2014 when he was recruited by IS. The college student separated from his family in 2015 and traveled back to his native Morocco. After moving to Syria, he became an IS soldier, but was crippled in an explosion in Iraq. His leg was broken and his arm had to be amputated. Unable to fight, he used his computer skills to serve the group.
While being a member of IS, he married two women and also had children with them.
He thought his second wife and his daughter had died. But in court on Thursday, al-Madiyum said he had heard that his second wife and his daughter might still be alive. Atwal said that possibility was being investigated.
The defense said al-Madiyum’s first wife died in his arms when rebel forces or IS fighters shot her in front of him in 2019. Al-Madiyum said in court that he dug a hole and buried her.
The day after the shooting, he walked with his sons and surrendered to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, who held him for 18 months in conditions that his defense described as “heinous.” The FBI sent him back to the US
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He pleaded guilty to providing material support to a designated terrorist organization in 2021. His sons were eventually found in a Syrian orphanage after what he and Montgomery described as a unique effort by US diplomats and other officials.
Al-Madioum’s parents were granted custody of their sons after arriving in the U.S. Seated in the court gallery Thursday, his sons, ages 7 and 9, sat on their grandparents’ laps and smiled when their father looked at them.
