Minnesota Man Who Fought for ISIS Terror Group Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison

A file photo shows the ISIS terrorist group's flag. Hussein Malla/AP Photo

A Minnesota man suspected of leaving the United States to join ISIS has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for providing material support to the terror organization, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced.

The prison term for Abdelhamid Al-Madioum, 27, of St. Louis Park, Minnesota, will be followed by 15 years of supervised release, the DOJ said in a press release on June 13.

Mr. Al-Madioum, a naturalized U.S. citizen, initially pleaded guilty to one count of providing material support and resources, namely personnel and services, to ISIS in January 2021.

He is among roughly three dozen people who are known to have left Minnesota to join militant groups in Somalia or Syria. However, he is also among only a handful of Americans who have been brought back to the U.S. who actually fought for the group.

In 2016, nine Minnesota men were sentenced on federal charges of conspiring to join ISIS, which has been designated a foreign terrorist organization by the United States.

According to the DOJ, Mr. Al-Madioum left the country in June 2015 with his family to visit relatives in Casablanca, Morocco.

Court documents state that, at the time, Mr. Al-Madioum was on a summer break from a local community college where he was a full-time computer science student and a part-time employee of the college’s Information Technology department.

However, once in Morocco, he left for Istanbul, Turkey, and from there met up with members of ISIS who helped him cross the border to Syria, the DOJ said.

Al-Madioum Declares ‘Allegiance’ to ISIS

Court documents dated December 2019 state that Mr. Al-Madioum’s family reported his disappearance in Morocco and tried, unsuccessfully, to contact him. They also contacted the U.S. Consulate in Rabat and asked the FBI to help locate him.

As part of efforts to locate him, FBI agents searched his home and found handwritten notes in which he declared his intent to join ISIS, and a sketch of what appeared to be the ISIS flag alongside the Arabic word for “allegiance,” court documents state.

Meanwhile in Syria, Mr. Al-Madioum joined other members of ISIS who brought him to Mosul, Iraq, where he spent the next several months being administratively enrolled into the terror group, according to the DOJ.

During this time, Mr. Al-Madioum received military training from ISIS members, and was assigned to the Tariq Bin-Ziyad Battalion of the Abu Mutaz al-Qurashi Division of ISIS, where he served as a soldier for the terrorist organization until 2016, the DOJ said.

The Morrocan native was injured in both legs and lost his right arm above the elbow between late 2015 and early 2016 during military activities for ISIS, according to prosecutors.

Following his injury, the DOJ said, he remained a member of ISIS, this time as a personnel database administrator, and was paid a stipend.

Defendant Wanted to ‘Fight Muslim Oppression’

Throughout his time with ISIS, Mr. Al-Madioum allegedly moved between the ISIS strongholds of Mosul, Raqqa, and Aleppo. He eventually surrendered to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in or near Baghouz, Syria, in March of 2019.

Court documents state that FBI agents visited the prison where Mr. Al-Madioum was held in July 0f 2019, and he volunteered information to the agents.

Mr. Al-Madioum allegedly told the agents he had reached out to ISIS in 2015 because he wanted to “fight Muslim oppression” by the Syrian regime and attend medical school.

He also told the agents he had been married but his wife had been killed in 2019. He also had two sons, according to court documents.

In September 2020, Mr. Al-Madioum was returned to Minnesota. His two sons were later found in an orphanage in Syria and taken to the U.S. where Mr. Al-Madioum’s parents were given custody.

Mr. Al-Madioum’s case was investigated by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force.

Trial attorney John Cella of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew R. Winter for the District of Minnesota prosecuted the case.

The Epoch Times has contacted a legal representative for Mr. Al-Madioum for comment.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.