A Minnesota man who was radicalized and later fought for the Islamic State in Syria expressed remorse and broke down in tears in open court Thursday as he was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.
Abelhamid Al-Madium, 27, had cooperated with federal authorities ahead of Thursday’s hearing, leading prosecutors to seek a lighter sentence than the 20-year maximum.
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U.S. District Judge Ann Montgomery called Al-Madium’s case “unusual” among those she has presided over in her 40 years as a judge, citing the mysterious way Al-Madium went from a beloved Minnesota hometown to one of the world’s most notorious terrorist organizations and then to cooperate with the government he betrayed.
Before his sentence, Al-Madium rose to speak, thanking the US government for giving him another chance, then addressed his parents and their two young sons, who were rescued from an orphanage in Syria and brought to the US with the help of federal authorities.
“I know I have caused you a lot of pain. I did it because I believed it was my religious duty,” Al-Ma’deem said, fighting back tears. “That is no excuse. My first duty should have been to you.”
This photo provided by the Sherburne County Jail in Elk River, Minnesota, shows Abel-Hamid Al-Madium, a Minnesota man who once fought for the Islamic State in Syria. Al-Madium expressed remorse and shed tears in open court Thursday as he was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison. (Sherburne County Jail via The Associated Press)
Al-Madium, a naturalized U.S. citizen, is one of thousands of Minnesotans suspected of leaving the U.S. to join Islamic State, along with others from around the world. About 30 Minnesotans are believed to have joined extremist groups in Somalia and Syria. Nine Minnesota men were convicted of federal charges in 2016 for plotting to join ISIS.
But Al-Madium is one of a relatively small number of Americans who have actually fought for ISIS to be extradited. He is one of 11 adults who will be formally extradited to the US from the conflicts in Syria and Iraq by 2023 to face charges of terrorism-related crimes and ties to ISIS, according to a defense sentencing memo. The others received sentences ranging from four years to life plus 70 years in prison.
Prosecutors had sought a 12-year sentence, arguing that Al-Madium’s suffering did not lessen the severity of his crimes. Assistant US Attorney Andrew Winter said Al-Madium radicalised himself online and helped the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, achieve its goals.
“Young people like him all over the world allowed ISIS to thrive,” Winter said.
Al-Madium’s lawyer, Manvir Atwal, sought a seven-year sentence. He said Al-Madium was recruited into a sophisticated propaganda ring as an impressionable teenager. He rejected extremism years ago and supported the government in other terror cases, which prosecutors confirmed.
Montgomery considered Almadium’s cooperation, letters on his behalf, including one from an unnamed former U.S. ambassador, and sentencing guidelines before choosing a 10-year sentence. He has already served more than five years in prison, which could be credited toward his sentence, Atwal said.
Al-Madium grew up in a loving, secular family in the Minneapolis suburb of St. Louis Park, the defense memo said. He joined ISIS because he wanted to help Muslims he believed were being slaughtered by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime during the Syrian civil war. ISIS recruiters persuaded him to “test his faith and become a true Muslim.”
Al-Madium was 18 when he joined ISIS in 2014. The university student left his family during a visit to his native Morocco in 2015, travelled to Syria and fought for ISIS until he was badly injured in an explosion in Iraq – his leg was shattered and his arm had to be amputated. Unable to fight, he used his computer skills to serve the group.
During his time as a member of ISIS, he married two women and had children with them.
He thought his second wife and daughter were dead. But in court on Thursday, Al-Ma’deum said he had heard that she and her daughter might still be alive. That possibility is being investigated, Atwal said.
His defence said his first wife was shot in front of him by rebels or IS fighters in 2019 and died in his arms. He told the court he dug a trench to bury her.
The day after the shooting, he walked with his sons and surrendered to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, where he was held for 18 months in conditions his defense described as “heinous” before the FBI extradited him to the United States.
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He pleaded guilty to material support to a designated terrorist organization in 2021. His sons were eventually found in an orphanage in Syria, in what he and Montgomery described as the result of an independent effort by U.S. diplomats and other officials.
Almadium’s parents were awarded custody of the boys after they arrived in the U.S. In the courtroom on Thursday, the boys, ages 7 and 9, sat on their grandparents’ laps and smiled when their father turned to them.
