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ISIS 'Beatle' given 8 life sentences as families call for Biden to help Americans held hostage

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A member of a group of British Islamic State terrorists dubbed “the Beatles” by their hostages was sentenced Friday in U.S. federal court to 8 concurrent life terms for kidnapping and murdering freelance journalist James Foley, as well as participating in the detention and murders of three other Americans.
The sentencing of El Shafee Elsheikh, 34, comes on the eighth anniversary of Foley’s murder which was broadcast across the world in a chilling beheading video by ISIS. Elsheikh was also convicted and sentenced for the kidnapping and murder of journalist Steven Sotloff, human rights activist Kayla Mueller and aid worker Peter Kassig.
Elsheikj, who was captured in Syria in 2018 alongside fellow “Beatle” Alexanda Kotey, was described by prosecutors at his sentencing hearing in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia as the most notorious, highest-ranking member of ISIS to face trial in the U.S. The foursome had held hostage 26 Westerners and murdered four Americans and several British and Japanese nationals in Syria.
Kotey was sentenced to life in prison in April.
Judge T.S. Ellis on Friday described the crimes as horrendous, noting Elsheikh’s involvement in the sexual abuse of Mueller, his decision to provide false testimony to law enforcement and his role as a leader of the group.
Due to a prior agreement with the United Kingdom, neither Elsheikh nor Kotey faced the death penalty. Another member of the group, Mohammed Emwazi, was killed in a drone strike in Syria in 2016.

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