JUST IN: British ISIS ‘Beatle’ Sentenced to Life in Prison for Role in Torture, Death of American Journalists

A British national was sentenced on Friday to life in prison for his role in the ISIS beheading of two American journalists and the deaths of two other Americans.

El Shafee Elsheikh was convicted in April on conspiracy charges relating to the hostage-taking and executions of journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and aid workers Kayla Mueller and Peter Kassig. He was also convicted of having “personally participated in the detention of and hostage negotiations for British, French, Italian, Danish, German, Spanish, Swedish, Belgian, Swiss, and New Zealand nationals,” according to the Department of Justice.

Foley, Sotloff, and Kassig were beheaded while Mueller was killed by blunt forced trauma. Both Foley and Sotloff were freelance journalists when they were killed in Syria, where Kassig and Mueller were also killed. All but Mueller, who was killed in 2015, were killed in 2014.

Elsheikh co-conspirator, Alexanda Kotey, pleaded guilty in September to his role in the killings and was sentenced to life in prison in April. Elsheikh, Kotey and Mohammed Emwazi, who was killed in a CIA strike in Syria in 2015, made up a notorious ISIS cell that was nicknamed “The Beatles” because of their thick British accents.

According to the DOJ:

According to evidence presented during trial, Elsheikh and two other ISIS members supervised the terrorist organization’s jails and detention facilities at which the hostages were held. Elsheikh and his co-conspirators engaged in a prolonged pattern of physical and psychological violence against hostages that was meant as an effort to subdue the hostages. These actions were also intended to compel the victims’ family members and their governments to pay large monetary ransoms for their release, in addition to compelling the U.S. government and other governments to agree to other terms and conditions for the victims’ return.

Between August and October of 2014, videos of the beheadings of Foley, Sotloff and Kassig, while “Mueller’s family received an email from ISIS confirming Mueller’s death in Syria,” according to the DOJ.

The life sentences were mandatory. There is no parole in the federal justice system.

“We must have accountability. We must have justice. And with today’s verdict, we finally have a bit of justice,” said Foley’s mother, Diane Foley, following the sentencing. “Let this sentencing make clear to all who dare to kidnap, torture or kill any American citizen abroad that U.S. justice will find you wherever you are. And that our government will hold you accountable for your crimes against our citizens.”