Prosecutors have dubbed a guy who killed four American captives the “Ringo” of the ‘ISIS Beatles,’ and who was spared life in a maximum security jail.
El Shafee Elsheikh, 34, will not be sent to what is referred to as a “concrete box” at the ADX Florence prison in Colorado but rather to USP Florence High, a less severe facility on the same grounds.
Elsheikh was a member of the bizarre “ISIS Beatles” group, so named because of their British accents, which kidnapped, tortured, and killed a group of journalists and aid workers in Syria in 2014.
As a result of his participation in “some of the most barbaric terrorist acts ever seen,” Elsheikh was given eight life sentences.
Before the death cult posted the horrifying film online and shocked the whole globe, three of the victims were decapitated on camera.
According to The Mirror, his attorneys claimed that because of “mental health” difficulties, he should not spend the rest of his life in the supermax jail’s infamous “concrete box.” As a result, he will remain in a regular prison population.
The family of the dead “don’t know how he avoided Florence,” sources told the newspaper, adding that it was a “kick in the teeth.”
The Green River serial murderer Gary Ridgway and Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev are among the inmates who have served time at Florence High.
Elsheikh would have spent 23 hours a day in isolation at the ADX Florence “supermax” prison in Colorado, which also houses Ramzi Ahmed Yousef, the mastermind of the 1993 assault on the World Trade Center, and Oklahoma bomber Terry L. Nichols.
Elsheikh, a native of London, belonged of the warped “ISIS Beatles” gang, so termed for their British accents, who in 2014 kidnapped, torturized, and slaughtered a group of journalists and charity workers in Syria.
Before the death cult posted the horrifying film online and shocked the whole globe, three of the victims were decapitated on camera.
Alexanda Kotey, 38, one of Elsheikh’s henchmen, was imprisoned in the US in April for his involvement in the murders.
Ringleader Mohammed Emwazi, better known as Jihadi John, was a member of the terror group and was assassinated by a drone in 2015.
When Elsheikh was sentenced to life in prison for each of the eight charges he was found guilty of in April, which are scheduled to run consecutively, his horrible acts were described as “brutal, heartless,” and “horrific” in August. It’s anticipated that he will file an appeal and change counsel.
Elsheikh’s punishment, according to the families’ lawyer Raj Parekh, was marked by Elsheikh’s “defiantly remorseless and unrepentant” behavior.
He said that, unlike his co-defendant Alexanda Kotey, the terrorist had made no attempt to meet the relatives of the victims.
The court heard testimony from some of the victims’ loved ones, including US journalist James Foley, during the sentence.
It was the eighth anniversary of his death, according to his mother Diane Foley.
She informed Elsheikh that “this trial has exposed the heinous human rights abuses you perpetrated as a member of Isis.”
Your humanity was surpassed by your malice.
Foley continued, her sobs audible: “Knowing Jim, our family’s sorrow and mine would have caused Jim the greatest anguish.”
Jim would respond, “Elsheikh, you did not murder me,” however. In my family, friends, and friends of theirs, I am still alive.
“I live on through those who overcame your brutality,” they said. I am there in everyone who strives for moral bravery.
I feel more alive than I ever have in many respects.
I pity you for choosing hate and for falling prey to a false religion, she said, turning to face Elsheikh once again.
Elsheikh sat in a pair of white sneakers, a black face mask, and a green jail outfit. He also wore spectacles.
He seemed to sometimes shift his head toward others who were reading out their remarks.
Before being given his punishment, Elsheikh was given the chance to speak, which he rejected.
Carl and Marsha Mueller, the parents of volunteer Kayla Mueller, subsequently joined Foley outside of court.
The punishment, according to Ms. Foley, was a “hollow triumph,” and she urged the US government to do more to rescue hostages held overseas.
As appreciative as I am of this statement, she said, “It is a hollow triumph.”
“Four of our country’s greatest people have been gone; our families have lost loved ones forever; and now Elsheikh and Kotey have lost their freedom, their nation, and their families.” All those concerned are caught up in a sad circle of violence and misery.
The sentencing, according to Mueller, was “simply one more step in the process.”
“Marsha and I are still looking for Kayla. We keep looking for the facts regarding what really occurred to her because we can’t be sure,’ he added.
“We want to take her back home.” She belongs in America, therefore we want to get her there.
“No family should have to face this sad and sorrowful reminder on the anniversary of Jim’s horrific execution.”
The relatives said outside of court that he’speaks volumes’ by not speaking to them during his sentence and that they were ‘not astonished’ by his silence.
I had thought he would talk, but I guess he simply isn’t interested, Foley said. He doesn’t want to admit that he is sorry.
If Elsheikh’s remarks had helped her feel differently, she said, “Well, yeah, but he didn’t want to so that says volumes.”
The father of Kayla Mueller, Carl Mueller, stated: “I didn’t expect him to talk. He has clearly been cold and without regret during the whole trial.
“I still think he feels he was doing morally,” the speaker said.
Marsha Mueller, Mueller’s wife, said, “I was hoping he would talk but I wasn’t surprised that he didn’t.”
Elsheikh was one of four Isis fighters who were nicknamed The Beatles because of their British accents.
The ringleader Mohammed Emwazi, also known as Jihadi John, Alexanda Kotey, and Elsheikh were reportedly members of the cell. Elsheikh and Kotey were apprehended in Syria in 2018 by the Syrian Democratic Forces, who are supported by the US, as they attempted to flee to Turkey.
While Davis was imprisoned in Turkey before being deported to the UK this week, Kotey pleaded admission to eight charges pertaining to his role last year, Emwazi was killed in a drone attack, and Davis was deported to the UK last week. At the same court in April, Kotey received the identical sentence of eight consecutive life terms from Judge T.S. Ellis.
Elsheikh was found guilty after the jury arrived at the conclusion that he belonged to an Islamic State cell known as “The Beatles” because of their British accents and responsible for beheading American prisoners in Iraq and Syria.
Elsheikh, a Sudanese-born British citizen who was reared in London, was found guilty of planning the murder of the four Americans who were taken hostage: the reporters James Foley and Steven Sotloff, the humanitarian workers Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller.
All of the beheadings, with the exception of Mueller, were captured on video and posted online by ISIS, sickening and horrifying the entire world.
Before being slain, Mueller was subjected to several rapes and put into servitude by the head of the Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
2014 saw the confirmation of the demises of Foley, Sotloff, and Kassig, while early 2015 saw the confirmation of Mueller’s demise.
On the eighth anniversary of the day ISIS posted a video of Foley’s horrific execution to YouTube, Elsheikh’s sentencing hearing took place.
Following the sentence hearing, Foley’s mother Diane addressed the media and said: “Today we honor four great young Americans.”
“These courageous Americans saw the suffering of the Syrian people and made the decision to assist, whether by delivering humanitarian supplies or educating the world about the awful Syrian tragedy.”
She went on to say that they “leave a legacy of remarkable moral bravery.”
Elsheikh’s British citizenship was revoked in 2018, and the accusations against him included a potential death penalty, but US prosecutors agreed not to seek his execution as part of a compromise with British officials to move the case forward.
Both sides of the Atlantic were riveted by Elsheikh’s trial and the moving testimony of the families of his victims, and US and UK authorities reacted with grim approval to his sentence on Friday.
First Assistant US Attorney Raj Parekh said that Elsheikh and the other Beatles always wore masks when they stood in front of their hostages: “This prosecution uncovered the nasty and depraved ISIS Beatles.”
According to Commander Richard Smith, head of counterterrorism at the London Metropolitan Police Service, this is one of the most significant international terrorism cases ever brought to trial.
He went on to say that these attacks “were some of the most heinous terrorist crimes ever seen, carried out with chilling callousness and cruelty.”
“I hope that the knowledge that these incredibly dangerous guys have been brought to justice will bring some solace to those most impacted.”
‘This is a time to remember all of the victims,’ he continued, “both the surviving hostages and the innocent people who were senselessly slaughtered at the hands of El Shafee Elsheikh and his co-defendant Alexanda Kotey.
They “have displayed extraordinary bravery and fortitude in providing their stories of what occurred to investigators and in court.”
By submitting evidence to US authorities as part of an international inquiry that began in 2012, when British journalist John Cantlie and American Foley were abducted in Syria, The Met was instrumental in bringing Elsheikh to justice.
Elsheikh, according to the prosecution, is the most notorious and senior member of the Islamic State organization to have ever been found guilty in a U.S. court.
After a jury found him guilty earlier this year of a number of terrible acts, the life sentence was a given.
The government claims that Elsheikh, an ISIS “Beatles” member, was “the lifeblood” of a “horrifying and barbaric hostage-taking plot” that resulted in the deaths of four Americans, three British captives, and two Japanese in addition to the other 26 hostages.
The government attempted to use Elsheikh’s own boastful words against him throughout their case, which lasted just over two weeks and included 35 witnesses, by playing excerpts from media interviews he gave in 2019 in which he acknowledged being responsible for the fate of the American and British hostages.
According to Parekh, Elsheikh recalled details “in granular detail” that only a Beatles band member would have been aware of.
He pointed to a picture of Elsheikh dressed similarly after reminding the jury of the witnesses’ testimony on the Beatles’ attire. Due to the fact that they were all British, Elsheikh and his friends were given the supergroup’s moniker.
Omer Kuzu, a self-confessed convicted terrorist, who testified in court that he met Elsheikh while adopting a nom de guerre and fighting for ISIS between 2014 and 2017, said that he saw Elsheikh in the photo that he gave to his brother and in which he described himself as being “Rambo style.”
Parekh screened excerpts from Elsheikh’s interviews, which the defense had fought to get out of the record.
During the opening statements, the defense admitted that Elsheikh was a fighter for the Islamic State but claimed that he was not a member of the “Beatles” and that there had been a “mistaken identity.”
Parekh alternated between Elsheikh’s remarks and the twelve former hostages’ court testimonies.
Elsheikh bragged in front of the court, “I know how to inflict pain to a certain level…
I know how to harm someone seriously…
I’ve struck every prisoner.
Then they were made aware of the testimony of witnesses who described being subjected to torture techniques as waterboarding, electric shocks, kicks, dead legs, stress positions, simulated executions, and extreme psychological and physical abuse.
Elsheikh used specific words and phrases, and Parekh noted how these echoed the tone of emails demanding payment from hostage families.
Because Elsheikh was present and wrote them, he claimed to the court that the wording was the same. He said, “The words roll from the tip of his tongue.”
We have shown beyond a shadow of a doubt that El Shafee Elsheikh is a member of the Beatles, Parekh said the court as a collage of images of the murdered hostages was on display.
A U.S. judge sentenced Alexanda Kotey, another member of the Beatles cell, to life in prison earlier this year. The U.S. military detained Kotey in Iraq before flying him to the country to stand justice.
In September of last year, he admitted responsibility for killing Foley, Sotloff, Mueller, and Kassig.
Mohammed Emwazi, a third member of the group, perished in a 2015 American-British missile strike in Syria.
After lengthy discussions, some former hostages were freed by the cell, and they later testified in court about the abuse they suffered. Also testifying were members of the victims’ families.
The “Beatles” held at least 27 foreign hostages in Syria between 2012 and 2015, the court heard.
Several journalists and humanitarian workers from Europe were freed when ransoms were paid, but the Americans, Foley, Sotloff, and Kassig, were slain and IS used recordings of their executions as propaganda.
According to reports, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the head of the IS, received Mueller and raped her repeatedly before executing her.
A Kurdish militia in Syria took Elsheikh and another former British citizen, Alexanda Amon Kotey, hostage in January 2018.
In 2020, they were flown to Virginia to face charges of hostage-taking, conspiring to kill US people, and aiding a foreign terrorist organization after being handed over to US forces in Iraq.
In September 2021, Kotey entered a guilty plea and now faces a life sentence.
A US drone assassinated “Beatles” killer Mohamed Emwazi in Syria in 2015.
Elsheikh had contested the allegations against him and maintained that he was wrongfully arrested.