One of ISIS 'Beatles' pleads guilty in US court to torture and execute four US hostages

A member of the infamous Islamic State terrorist cell nicknamed ‘The Beatles’ has pleaded guilty to killing four American ctives. He risks life imprisonment without parole, but will be spared the death penalty.

Alexanda Kotey, 37, changed her plea on Thursday during a hearing in a federal court in Virginia, admitting a role in the abduction and execution of two U.S. journalists and two relief workers. He will not face the death penalty under the terms of his extradition of the United Kingdom, which had deprived Kotey of his citizenship because of his membership in the terrorist group.

Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh, 33, were protected in Syria by the Kurdish militia backed by the United States in 2018. They were identified as members of “The Beatles” a cell made up of English-speaking jihadists who promised allegiance to the self-proclaimed “Caliphate” established in parts of Syria and Iraq.

The duo were charged with the deaths of journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, as well as aid workers Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller. Prosecutors said Kotey and Elsheikh supervised the facility where the ctives were kept and engaged in “A protracted pattern of physical and mental violence against hostages."

In their first clarity before Judge TS Ellis last October, Kotey pleaded not guilty. He changed that plea this week, Ellis said at a video hearing. The judge also said Kotey had “Agree to cooperate fully and truthfully with the United States and provide the Government with all the information you know about any criminal activity," including in addition to what was in the indictment against him.

‘Kotey has been treated correctly and, given overwhelming evidence, he made the independent decision to plead guilty to his crimes. “The justice, fairness and compassion that this defendant received in the United States stands in stark contrast to the cruelty, inhumanity and arbitrary violence that the terrorist organization he advocated claims." said Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Raj Parekh.

Contrary to the propaganda perpetuated by ISIS, we have given Alexanda Kotey the opportunity to face justice

Of the two remaining “Beatles” Aine Davis is in a Turkish prison after being convicted of terrorism charges, while Mohamed Emwazi, also known as “Jihadi John," was killed in a US air strike in November 2015.

The terrorists beheaded Foley in August 2014 after US special forces attempted a rescue operation. He was the first American to be executed by the terrorist group. The video of Sotloff’s beheading was released three weeks later, on 2 September. Kassig was beheaded in November of that year, although he converted to Islam in ctivity.

Mueller, who was captured in Aleppo in 2013, was reportedly given as a sex slave to IS “Caliph” Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi. The militants claimed she was killed in an air strike in February 2015 on theirs “Cital” of Raqqa, carried out by Jordan in retaliation for their execution of a ctiv Jordanian pilot. The United States has claimed she was killed by al-Baghdadi. The US raid in 2019, which resulted in al-Baghdadi’s death, was carried out by ‘Task Force 8-14’, named after Mueller’s birthday.

“Today is also a painful anniversary. “Seven years ago, the world was destroyed by images depicting Steven Sotloff’s death." Added Parekh. “Today, Justice spoke through the voices and lives of the victims, and it is these words that will resonate throughout history."

Do you think your friends would be interested? Share this story!